Progressive Devolution
One baby step towards 'write-once, use-everywhere'.
This is a pure CSS web site. It scales proportionately for handheld devices. That's right! One web site.
One stylesheet drives BOTH models – full-size and pda-size! No need for two web sites for
the same content. Don't believe me? Here's a little test: to simulate the scalability
of this site, grab the corner of your browser window and resize your browser as small as you can.
See? Or...if you have a mobile/handheld device that uses a browser which supports CSS2, you can
view this site directly on your pda. You don't need an an extra link. Promise.
The downside of dabbling in emerging technology is that the environment is sometimes a lonely place.
— Where adventurous souls are on their own to sort through what often ends up being mostly misinformation
or outdated and unsupported to rely on for guidance. For the most part, so early in the game,
project success be based on the discovery and elimination of what DOESN'T work than what does.
As a result, this mobile project has actually devolved as it has progressed. Appropriately, it's title,
Progressive Devolution. I'm at a loss of words for some clever pithy reference to an oxymoron here, but
one must keep a sense of humor when success often arrives on the tail of failure?
The original objective was to adapt and scale a streaming media slideshow I had created in an earlier project developed for
the RealOne Player, also a first for me, to a Pocket PC handheld device using the RealOne mobile player. Since I had used
Real technology before, it seemed sensible to extend that experience to handhelds by using the new RealOne Mobile player.
Unfortunately, buggy player software, poor support and documentation for the mobile player and failure by Real to respond
to my queries resulted in two failed attempts to display the streamed media, either in the player or embedded in the
browser.
Back To Square One
With no success in the streaming effort, I returned to the familiar and decided expanding my knowledge of CSS to include the handheld device
format was just as important, maybe even more so. This web site, which has been scaled to the Pocket PC handheld pda, using
a single stylesheet to drive both versions, is a result of that effort.
- Mobile Dev - General information about mobile media development page.
- About the Project - Notes, tool reviews, rants, and musings about the project.
- Documentation - Documentation of the project methodology and timeline.
- Resources - Resources and links most helpful to me.
- Mobile Tools - Mobile browsers and other errant apps to bring you misery!
- Feedback Form - I invite your comments or feedback about this project.
