I said yesterday that we’re at the tipping point for the mobile web. So I go today and get a coffee from the local caffeine dealer, and the sleeve on the cup features an ad for Yahoo’s mobile flight status service. The service itself is no big deal, after all, plenty of people offer similar ones. Nor is the fact that people can access it by texting a flight number to a shortcode.
But the bit underneath that’s interesting, the “or go to m.yahoo.com using your mobile browser.” Yahoo’s confident enough that people will know their phone has a browser, know how to use it, and be comfortable enough to access the service that they’ll put it in mass-market campaigns. Nice.
(And maybe they get extra points for using a hot new Nokia N95 8GB for the screenshot…)
They assume you know how to use the browser, but seem less confident regarding texting: “try texting”
Or does this apply to the quality of US mobile services?
Interesting indeed. Many airlines will allow you through security gates & on to the plane with only a mobile email now.
What’s also interesting is that they are pushing you to a WAP site…does that mean they are admitting that they’re downloadable mobile app is not working?