Mobile Internet As it Should Be

This morning I went shopping with my wife.  I stayed with one sleeping child in the car while she took the other to the store. 

Not much you can do in the car with a sleeping child.  Certainly cannot play music or listen to the radio.  Instead, I flipped open my mobile (a humble non-smartphone with nothing more than your average mobile browser on it) and did some blog-reading catching up.

I read the latest posts on Degardener.  When I was reading this post I noticed it referred to a LinkedIn Group.  Being a LinkedIn junkie I immediately followed the link on my mobile browser.  After logging in to LI, I added myself to the group.

By the time I got back home, I was a group member, and had already received several invitations to link from other members.

Bottom line:  I used the Internet on my mobile while I was in a mobile context – nothing to do, no other connectivity.  The experience was exceptional (EVDO + some of my company’s secret sauce), enabling me to consume content and to act on it in a meaningful way.

As a user experience it was a matter of serendipity meets usability (from useless to useful).

Now I have to check out my new LinkedIn buddies

— Oren