The toman diaries

WML, the real RSS?

lørdag, mars 13, 2004

RSS is, like many point out, and I agree, brilliant for retreiving content quickly. (It was built for content, no surprise there).

But as RSS catches on, organizations will probably start putting images, html formatting, ads and whatnot in it too. Which means we're back to where html is now: at XHTML. So whats the point then? Why not simply use XHTML if you want to convey images and push ads? Why destroy the brilliance of RSS with you eager to make money of it; the point of RSS for any operation, it should seem, is to lure people to your site with as little bandwith and management costs as possible.

Enter WML, the original mobile markup language. I've long used WAP on my aging Siemens c/m35 mobile, and WML is OK for its purpose. Its all about content, and you can't throw much unrelated content in it before it starts lagging seriously with the normal mobile modem connections and frustrated users start looking elsewhere.

Like RSS, it's an XML dialect, but it has more options to it even though its not modular like RSS(?). It lets the user navigate in it through cards, which can be hidden elements until they're requested. Much like using DOM I suppose, except somewhat limited. It is an application, when thinking about it I get a microsoft feeling where I'm somehow tied into the webpage without control over what I see or not. But decks are very suited on WAP, because of mobile display's limited resolution. Of course it also makes it somehow interactive, which is nice sometimes...

So why isn't WAP used more 'on the web', in common programs, for quick and easy reading? Google has a decent(?) search-engine for the 'mobile web', so finding stuff shoulnd't be too hard. The only place I know you can actually use it is in Opera, which added a WAP reader in version 4.0. The image on the right shows an Opera panel (aka hotlist tab) with Ananova in it (using my customized stylesheet for Opera). Nice isn't it? Remember the decks? Perfect for a panel. You can easily browse a wap page, and it takes almost no bandwith, and no extra work on the provider side to get you the info you need.

With WML 2.0, it essentially became XHTML .. Take whats out there, you may not need RSS at all. (duck).