Browse the Web from your mobile phone

    Wednesday, December 8, 1999


    Computer Times, Singapore
    Ong Boon Kiat

    Eight billion webpages will be on the World Wide Web in two years - an eightfold increase from today, according to Internet expert John Patrick's estimate. Yet two developments will make the Internet easier to use: a new webpage construction language called XML (eXtended Markup Language), and a diversity of Web-access mechanisms.

    Unlike the incumbent HTML (HyperText Markup Language), XML labels virtually any item on a webpage - text, graphics and transaction data like shipping codes, customer information and price catalogues. This paves the way for e-merchants to monitor and manage the flow of Web-based transactions which will function like a database. With XML, the Web will be better organised. "Searching for the desired information will be much easier in future," said Mr Patrick.

    He is also confident there will be enough bandwidth to cater to the deluge of Web traffic in the future. "In fact, I consider Internet bandwidth to be a given in the next few years," he added. This is because the ways of receiving Web content will proliferate, relieving the dial-up modem. These different Web access mechanisms including wireless, satellite and cable technologies, will spread the costs and induce competition.

    "The best part is that the different delivery channels will compete with each other resulting in cheaper rates for consumers," he said. The increased variety of delivery channels will also be complemented by the diversity of access devices. "Today more than 95 per cent of Internet access is through the PC. In a few years, that will drop to 50 per cent," said Mr Patrick. Competing with the PC will be mobile phones, set-top boxes, Web kiosks and handheld devices. "If you ask me two years from now who makes Web browsers, I will probably have to say Nokia, Ericsson and Motorola," he said.