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madmaxmedia · 01-15-2004, 12:37 PM

Hi Alex,

First of all, whatever your decision is I want to thank you for all that you've done. I don't browse or post in the site as often as I'd like, but the Web Collection list is truly great and the basis for my scheduled iSilo conversions.

A couple of observations-

1. Although I understand your motive behind requiring participation, etc. I think it is the wrong way of trying to solve the 'problem'. I don't think there's an actual problem per se, but I do understand that if more users contributed the mobile URL's and settings they used, the better the site would be. But forcing people to contribute is the wrong way, there are ways of encouraging it.

2. That being the case, I think you may want to rethink how the forums are organized. Right now they are organized 'functionally', based on platform or technical divisions.

I think if you want to turn the site into a true resource for mobile content, you need to change this and organize by content. Different sections for 'News', 'Sports', 'Technology', etc. just like how the Web Collection list is organized. Different programs (iSilo, Handstory, mobile browsers) will have different settings, but that is not as important as the type of content IMO. If a Handstory user posts a URL to a great mobile site, knowing the URL is 90% of it- I can figure out the best iSilo settings if I need to (the most important 2 factors being link depth, and whether including images will make the file too big). Also, now that I have internet on my Sony PDA even a URL is enough.

Adding user reviews would be great too, even if it's as simple as encouraging people to rate threads. Any feedback is better than none, and I think the simpler the set up the better.

In addition to the content sections, you would of course have technical sections/info, where people could learn how to best use whatever program they're using.

There are plenty of sites with mobile URL's for mobile web browsing, but only a couple of good ones. And none of the others have any information on web clipping. But to me it's all the same, the most important thing is who has the best collection of URL's to check (again, I can do the rest myself if needed.) The good thing about them is that they're organized by content, so I can easily browse through and look for whatever I'm interested in.

Right now you have the best of both worlds- the most comprehensive list of URL's, and information on clipping the sites too. So you only have to find the best way of leveraging these assets. Right now the only disadvantage I see is that it's not organized in a way that prioritizes content. The Web Collection list is organized this way, and I think this is why it's so popular.

3. I like the idea of a different URL like mobileread.com. Just as important, is there or will there be a mobile-optimized version of the site? That would be really useful too (whether someone accesses it wirelessly, or clips it).

Thanks, Steve

01-15-2004, 12:37 PM	#44
madmaxmedia Connoisseur Posts: 76 Karma: 510 Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Los Angeles, CA Device: Sony CLIE TG50	Organization Hi Alex, First of all, whatever your decision is I want to thank you for all that you've done. I don't browse or post in the site as often as I'd like, but the Web Collection list is truly great and the basis for my scheduled iSilo conversions. A couple of observations- 1. Although I understand your motive behind requiring participation, etc. I think it is the wrong way of trying to solve the 'problem'. I don't think there's an actual problem per se, but I do understand that if more users contributed the mobile URL's and settings they used, the better the site would be. But forcing people to contribute is the wrong way, there are ways of encouraging it. 2. That being the case, I think you may want to rethink how the forums are organized. Right now they are organized 'functionally', based on platform or technical divisions. I think if you want to turn the site into a true resource for mobile content, you need to change this and organize by content. Different sections for 'News', 'Sports', 'Technology', etc. just like how the Web Collection list is organized. Different programs (iSilo, Handstory, mobile browsers) will have different settings, but that is not as important as the type of content IMO. If a Handstory user posts a URL to a great mobile site, knowing the URL is 90% of it- I can figure out the best iSilo settings if I need to (the most important 2 factors being link depth, and whether including images will make the file too big). Also, now that I have internet on my Sony PDA even a URL is enough. Adding user reviews would be great too, even if it's as simple as encouraging people to rate threads. Any feedback is better than none, and I think the simpler the set up the better. In addition to the content sections, you would of course have technical sections/info, where people could learn how to best use whatever program they're using. There are plenty of sites with mobile URL's for mobile web browsing, but only a couple of good ones. And none of the others have any information on web clipping. But to me it's all the same, the most important thing is who has the best collection of URL's to check (again, I can do the rest myself if needed.) The good thing about them is that they're organized by content, so I can easily browse through and look for whatever I'm interested in. Right now you have the best of both worlds- the most comprehensive list of URL's, and information on clipping the sites too. So you only have to find the best way of leveraging these assets. Right now the only disadvantage I see is that it's not organized in a way that prioritizes content. The Web Collection list is organized this way, and I think this is why it's so popular. 3. I like the idea of a different URL like mobileread.com. Just as important, is there or will there be a mobile-optimized version of the site? That would be really useful too (whether someone accesses it wirelessly, or clips it). Thanks, Steve