Are you a fan of iPhone-optimised web sites?
eBay is the latest web site to announce an optimised web site for the iPhone. In fact, it's created two mobile versions -- one for "the rest" and one for the iPhone.
That's great in theory, but what I don't like is being forced to use the mobile version of the site when I want to use the full version.
Granted, I may be taking my life in my hands using the "grown up" version of a web site, but given that I can't run Flash or Java on my iPhone anyway, I'm not likely to come to a grinding halt.
Sure, some pages might be render a bit on the small side, and some overfill the screen, but that's what the iPhone's multitouch system in Safari is there for.
Web site owners: make a site optimised for the iPhone if you want to, but don't force me to use it.
(In fairness, eBay does provide a link to the regular site. Thank you. Shame I don't use eBay.)
Facebook doesn't always want to let me browse the normal version of the site.
Same with Google Reader.
I know that the standard version of the site might take longer to load and consume more bandwidth, but that should be my choice to make, right?
It's like being directed to a different site if I use Firefox to if I use Safari.
Perhaps some lesser mobile phones need to be automatically re-routed to a low bandwidth version, but not the iPhone. The whole point is that it can display web pages pretty much the way they were meant to be seen.
If your main site is too bloated, then perhaps I'll look for a mobile version. Please let me choose.
How about you? Do you like being automatically redirected to "iPhone-friendly" web pages, would you prefer to be given the choice, or are normal web pages just fine for use on the iPhone?
Share your thoughts in the comments below or at the iPhonic Facebook group.
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