# Do you use a mobile device for web browsing?



## TedW (May 6, 2012)

I guess you can consider this sort of a mini survey. I hope you don't mind my asking.. I'm working on a project and it would help me a great deal to know how many people are using mobile devices-iPhone, iPad, Android, BlackBerry, etc.. to browse the Internet. Any details would be helpful, as well, like what device you use, how much of your browsing is on the mobile device rather than your desktop, whether you find most websites to work pretty well on mobiles.

As you can probably tell, I'm working on a website and this information will help me to weigh some factors so I can make some decisions about the design. I really appreciate all of your help with this.

Thanks - Ted


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## mojapitt (Dec 31, 2011)

Android phone & Android tablet


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## helluvawreck (Jul 21, 2010)

I personally don't use them but everyone else in my immediate family does. That would be 5 people. I'm too broke to buy one. I need to much for my shop.

helluvawreck aka Charles
http://woodworkingexpo.wordpress.com


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## Bobmedic (Sep 24, 2010)

All things Apple in my house. 2 iPads, 3 Macbook Pros, 3 iPhone's. Most of my browsing I do on my mobile devices, specifically my "New" iPad. I simply love the new retina display. I sometimes have to browse on my Macbook Pro because some websites have not optimized their sites for mobile browsing but that is getting every day since we are being ushered in to the post PC world. I would say if you are designing a website to make sure that it is tablet/mobile friendly since that seems to be the way things are going in the industry.


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## TedW (May 6, 2012)

I'm in the same boat as Charles - helluvawreck says it pretty well, so I'm pretty much driving blind on this one. But with 3 replies so far, 2 of which clearly lean mobile, it appears my concern about the website being mobile friendly is right on target.


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## MarkTheFiddler (May 29, 2012)

My iphone gets a workout. I like it because I can look at YOUR projects and not be away from the family while they are watching the television…... Well yeah, I'm actually serious.


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## AKSteve (Feb 4, 2012)

iphone and laptop.


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## Doss (Mar 14, 2012)

Design your site to be mobile-friendly only if the content itself is not already set up to be mobile friendly *and* your audience wants it.

There are surveys that already show the statistics on browser usage (which usually points to device type). Though that's a rough estimate at times, it's still better (in my opinion) to the small amount of feedback you're going to get on here.

That said, I rarely visit this site on a mobile device (that is, a phone not a tablet). I tend to be very verbose and mobile device inputs do not really cater to that style.

Design your site around your content and audience not based solely on where the industry is heading. Doing so is not only a waste of time, but it may cause compromises that may hurt your main site if you build it to reflect a mobile-friendly platform.


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## rfa6 (Mar 24, 2012)

My day job is in tech and I have more devices that a person should. I think the iPhone is great but have never been happy browsing with it. The iPad is the smallest form factor for web browsing that I can be happy using. My favorite mobile device is the Macbook Air.


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## Bertha (Jan 10, 2011)

laptop and wifi canon in the shop, smartphone on occassion, little netbook mostly around the house (and now). I've got some big permanent rigs and htpc's around the house but the netbook probably gets the most use. I'm looking at an android tablet to replace it in the next few months.


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## boxcarmarty (Dec 9, 2011)

Ted, I have to agree with Doss. Even though there are a lot of hand held devices out there. I feel there are only a small percentage of people that attempt to do some serious browsing on a cell phone. I myself, will check minor things on my cell during the day such as weather or googleing basic information. Anything else of a larger magnitude seems to be a waste of time on a cell phone. Don't compromise your web site trying to reflect a mobile-friendly platform…..


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## Gatorjim (May 12, 2012)

I have android phone and tablet. I get on the web daily on my phone rarley on the tablet. Since most websites aren't mobile friendly and the screen is just to small I perfer to use my laptop.


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## bruc101 (Sep 13, 2008)

Keep flash and frames off your site and you should be fine. We're not designing anything in particular for the, as our youngest daughter calls it…the little toy gimmick world. Frames are pretty much gone and flash is on it's way out. We've not upgraded flash since cs3 and have no intentions of doing so. 
I also doubt very seriously the pc will get put down by the mobile devices. They're just to small and cranky to be serious development tools
I could not imagine using Autocad or the ones of you using Sketchup on a mobile device. It ain't going to happen in the real world of designers of any industry. 
Our two oldest daughters just upgraded their cad monitors to 32 inch and I use two 22 inch and one 27 inch.. The more monitor we have the better we like it.


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## twoblacklabs (Jan 12, 2011)

Iphone. I use it a great deal for surfing.


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## DIYaholic (Jan 28, 2011)

I have a "Windows" phone. I regularly check weather, Craigslist, and quick searches for info. I don't surf on the phone, only look for pertinent info ASAP.


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## TedW (May 6, 2012)

This is really valuable input everybody, and I really appreciate it. Based on everything in this thread so far, it looks like my best bet is to go ahead and get the site running and worry about making some parts of it mobile friendly in the near future. Thanks again for all your feedback.


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## superdav721 (Aug 16, 2010)

Iphone, Ipad, Macbookpro, Itouch and a minimac.


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## SteveKorz (Mar 25, 2008)

Everything I do is on my android phone or tablet. I am never on a computer anymore.


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## robertb574 (Jan 12, 2011)

Iphone - used often when out running errands or going out with my wife


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## wormil (Nov 19, 2011)

Android phone which I use considerably when I'm away from home. When it comes to websites and especially forums, I only frequent the ones that are mobile friendly. Most phones will handle websites well unless they have columns (which I dislike even on a desktop). One pet peeve is people setting the text size … please don't do that. I set minimum text sizes though my browser (40+ eyes), both desktop and phone, and it tends to break websites with text set a specific size.


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## oldnovice (Mar 7, 2009)

Acer tablet (Android device) ... no phone browsing!


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## Uncle_Salty (Dec 26, 2009)

Yep. iPhone. IPAD2. Windows based desktop and/or laptop. Just depends on where I am and what I am doing. I am submitting this on the IPad.


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## chrisstef (Mar 3, 2010)

For a business decision it could never hurt, the youngest generations have em glued to their faces. My wife and I do a lot on our iphones. The laptop serves for long term browsing (30 minutes plus) and shopping but i really like taking the internet into the shop on the phone. I use a lot of tutorial blogs when tuning my machines and i can go back n forth quick through parts of the video.


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## Doss (Mar 14, 2012)

Based on everything in this thread so far, it looks like my best bet is to go ahead and get the site running and worry about making some parts of it mobile friendly in the near future. -*Ted*

Having a site is always more valuable than waiting until you have every latest widget, compatibility, etc. up and running on the site. All you are doing by making it mobile-capable is extending your reach. Mobile browsing works well for some content and terrible for others. Also, there is a big difference between shaping the site for phones versus tablets.

As I said before, sites like Lumberjocks and some of the blogs I read, I would completely avoid visiting them on a mobile device. The ones I do visit have content that is suitable for a mobile platform. Others, like craigslist and eBay, have completely different experiences through apps for mobile users than their browser-based site.

Knowing your audience and how they surf is just as important as the content you're delivering when making the decision to build a dedicated mobile experience.

As a software engineer, I hear people throw around ideas of all this cool stuff they've seen and what is trending up right now and I have to listen to them say it's essential for what we're doing and we have to get it into the next version. When I ask them how and to define the type of experience or message they're trying to deliver (or tell them how much time ($$$) it'll take), they quickly start scaling back those ideas.


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## TedW (May 6, 2012)

*Doss*, I had to chuckle at your last line, about when you tell them how much it will cost. During my years of home remodeling I have seen the same thing time and time again. I estimated one kitchen remodel that called for commercial stainless steel everything, and ended up installing off the shelf maple cabinets and a formica counter top - the sink being the only stainless item.

Your advice is well taken. I've been testing various elements the past couple of weeks for compatibly and am installing everything now. My concern was over wanting to make parts of the site mobile friendly in the near future. I would rather avoid using applications that I won't be able to modify later, due to my very limited skills. But it appears that most of the changes I would have to make are design issues, which is something I can handle.

The parts I'm most concerned about making mobile, some time soon, include a business directory and a classifieds section-stuff that will be easy for me to template for mobile devices. Well, sort of… I'll be using a reactive design that shrinks and expands to fit whatever size window it's viewed in. Again, this is something I can implement in the near future. For now, it's like you say… having a side is more valuable than waiting.

Thanks for the insight.


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## superstretch (Jan 10, 2011)

When I'm at work, mostly my work computer, but at home, probably 50/50 between my android tablet (ASUS TF101) and my gaming rig


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