Pretty much everywhere you go these days you see free wireless (WiFi) at coffee bars and even grocery stores. Every other billboard and TV commercial touts a new smart phone application or mobile Web site. This is because there is a growing group of fast-moving consumers that wants apps, music, videos, instant messaging, e-mails and more available all the time, everywhere they go. It is not limited to high schoolers, either, as the demographics of iPhone and Blackberry buyers trend older with higher incomes.

The fact is, in many instances throughout the day, it is faster and easier to check an e-mail or confirm a fact with a smart phone or handheld device than a desktop or a laptop. You would have to be blind not to see the incredible growth in mobile activity in every area of life, geographical and otherwise. Check these facts:

- The amount of Web access attributable to mobile devices increased over 100 percent in the U.S. between 2009 and 2010. (DotMobi)

- That increase was almost 150 percent globally in the same period. (DotMobi)

- Half the world s population will have mobile Web access by the close of 2010. (Mobile Active)

- Research and surveys in the U.S., Asia and Europe show that a full one-third of the people questioned were mobile media consumers as of January, 2010. (ComScore)

Many of the less tech-savvy Internet users wonder what all the wailing and gnashing of teeth from the business community indicates. They seem to think that any Web site that is currently available on their PC should likewise show up on their phone or handheld device. The problem is that mobile Web is an entirely new dimension in more ways than one, including the dimensions of the displays. Sites have to be specifically designed to show information on cell phones and other devices with small or imprecise displays. Simply having a working Web site does not make it ready for the mobile devices.

The main reason is easy to see: size. Not only do mobile devices have smaller screens, the browser issues and bandwidth needs are also quite different than those with PCs. Just consider the incredible variety of new devices, with different screen types and sizes, plus varying levels of support for audio, video and text. Then, too, some touch screens scroll, some do not, there are differences in the phone company coverage plans, etc., ad infinitum.

To make a mobile-ready site, it is probably a good idea to put your trust in companies that specialize in creating them rather than hack your way into trouble or end up ruining what already works. Leading Web design firms will be able to demonstrate in a hot minute whether or not they are up on the emerging technologies driving the mobile Web. This will mean that they are investing what is necessary to master the technologies, get the research in order and develop the products for robustness and flexibility. Do not be confused about this: You will need a mobile-specific site, at least for a time, so do not wait too long to get that going.

There is a lot more to mobile devices than the ability to text and chat and make phone calls. There is business to be done, as well, and the companies that make this the easiest for their customers will reap the benefits. It is simply another part of the technology (r)evolution, something most companies have been contending with now since the pace of computer and communications technology development took off at hyperspeed in the 1980s.

Do not wait for the convergence; you will lose a lot of money. The convergence, as it is called, is that day, somewhere in the misty future, when one Web site design will be repurposed on the fly by software embedded in mobile device hardware. That day is coming, but it is still a ways off. Until it arrives, you need to be ready with a few different solutions for presenting your Web site, unless you only want to do business with people who are sitting at desks. And that s just not how the future seems to be shaping up, is it?

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