A history of the mobile Internet

The mobile Internet had its humble beginnings around 1998 and had its growing pains, misses, and hits (way more misses than hits). Its nickname was like a cartoon sound effect — WAP — which was a shorter version of Wireless Application Protocol. The mobile Internet wasn’t supposed to be named WAP, so back then they referred to it as wireless Internet(no relation to WiFi as we now know it), and wireless Internet Web sites were WAP sites.

Early in 2000, the wireless world caught fire with the launch of the Internet on a mobile phone. (We realize that true mobile-phone fanatics are shaking their heads now, but stay tuned — this stuff comes up to the present reallyfast.) Great idea, shaky start. Back then, only a few mobile phone models had built-in Web browsers, wireless carriers’ data-connection plans were extremely expensive, and average consumers found it next to impossible to find WAP Web sites that worked on their mobile phones. The whole Internet-ona- mobile-phone idea was somewhere between a boondoggle and a complete mess. Customers didn’t like it, content companies didn’t like it, and wireless carriers didn’t like it. It was a good recipe for failure, as we all know now.

But the wireless industry had to start somewhere. (Hey, Rome wasn’t built in a day.) Think back to the early days of the Internet — Web 2.0 it wasn’t. Most people used CompuServe, AOL, or Prodigy — all on dialup — and endured limited content and network capabilities, browsers with primarily text-based services, no graphics, and a few bits of information posted by even fewer people. Think of the Internet now: Computers have next-generation browsers from Microsoft, Apple, Opera, or Firefox; full-fledged multimedia services from Google, Yahoo!, Facebook, and YouTube; and all-you-can-eat Internet access from Comcast, EarthLink, or Time-Warner Cable. The information highway simply grew much bigger and faster. The mobile Internet has done the same thing over the past eight years: It has become the made-for-mobile information highway: You can get on from nearly anywhere, and it’s moving faster than ever.