Hey there - a really important request, thats for sure.

I blogged yesterday about what people want us to build for snooth next, and i think mobile apps will be one of the top requests. Not sure if we'll have a dedicated iphone app at first, but some mobile apps will at least get the ball rolling.

Theres a ton of stuff we'd like to do eventually, all the way from simple review posting, to being able to price shop fast while you are actually in a store (we'd tell you the average price in your zip code etc) to taking a photo of the bar code and emailing it to snooth so that we can push you back some scores and reviews!

Small steps though... basic mobile apps, most certainly on the list!

GR's got a point. Have you seen iSepta.org? A couple of guys made the interface to the train schedule that Philly's public transport should have made years ago.

Just another vote from the peanut gallery for an iPhone version of Snooth. Any mobile version will be great, though. Keep the ideas flowing like wine!

Will it be iPhone specific... or accessible to all with a modern phone?

Exactly - that way I can Snooth on my 'berry when I'm at the lunch counter, perusing a snooty wine list or in the airport security line.

Although Mark's heard this bit from me often enough that he could imitate me to comic effect saying it...

NO, oceank8, it is NOT about the iPhone. I have one too, but targeting a limited user population first is, at best, foolish and, in the case of the iPhone, egotistical and exclusionary. Sensible steps are, as follows:

1. Flat, minimal images (if any) "mobile" version. This should load promptly on a 28k modem. Think "compatible with lynx(1)".

2. Fancier version supporting the more popular graphical browsers on various handsets, hopefully avoiding having to play any specific browser games. (But, oceank8: you need to understand that the iPhone's Safari is, at the very best, the third most populous choice: there are far more Windows Mobile devices and Blackberries out there, and people actually do use them because they actually do work.)

3. Potentially, and I think it'd be useful for Blackberries and iPhones to take advantage of the device's attachments (think camera): installable applications. I think the iPhone should be a tie for third, at best, on this list. First should be Windows Mobile, second should be Blackberry, and I'm not sure whether third is Palm (there are a lot of Treos out there in the hands of wealthy people who've no interest in Apple products but plenty of interest in wine) or iPhone.

The fundamentals for Snooth are that Internet access is required for it to be useful, but enabling presentation of that data with far less bandwidth overhead is obviously desirable. It might be frustrating to be unable to load a new article on nyt.com when underground, but it's simply not sensible to expect wine recommendations from a web app absent some degree of connectivity.

Well, the good news is that our app is not iPhone specific -- although it's going to look prettier on the iPhone because Apple has given us more to work with, it's still a web app and will be accessible and usable on at least the Blackberry (which we will test).

Unfortunately we don't have any Windows Mobile devices around to test with. Any Snoothers out there want to help us with that when we're ready?

The better news is that it's Thursday which is a day ending in Y. Looking at my rulebook it seems that's the perfect day to kick back with a glass of wine. (Well, much later, after work.)

@oceank8:

My apologies for targeting you, then. I was venting a bit of frustration with the overall societal obsession previously with the Blackberry and now with the iPhone. There are plenty of other mobile (and some less so) devices that benefit from a lightweight version. Even though *you* don't mean it, some people actually espouse the kind of obsession about their mobile phones that they used to reserve for particular brands of personal computer or video game console. It's no more becoming in this market than it was in those.

@mark:

I've at least one co-worker with a Windows Mobile device I could spot-check. Perhaps I can get him to use the site himself, but I don't know how much of an oenophile he is... he moved here from Kansas City. ;^>

Does anybody's *browser* SDK (Apple's, RIM's, MS's) yet permit uploading files from the handset? I know the initial iPhone one didn't used to, and that's a feature I'd really like to see (a way down the road, of course), mostly for pictures.

i'd be chanting iphone iphone (in opposition to honda), except their software has been unbelievably shaky recently.

There are, however, more iphone 3g's than the 2.5 g original model already

Ocean - Dont worry, we've got your back. Just let us know if gr torments you...

;)

Thanks for the support! :)

I completely agree that there should be a Snooth iPhone app....I believe there is huge potential for greater adoption of Snooth through an iPhone app. It would also improve a users ability to review a wine. Going to the example of being in restaurant and ordering a bottle of wine. If i had the ability to take my iphone and pull up my Snooth app and search for the wine that I am drinking at dinner it would be awesome. I would have 100 reviews by now if this was available. I use Snooth to remember the wines I like and do not like and I always forget the name, vintage, etc of the wines I drink in restaurants.

<jstepper> Has a great point. A mobile version is useless if you do not have a medium to market it in. All you are allowing is current users of SNOOTH access on their phones (crackberry, crackphone, or crackTreo, yes they are all crack).

What sets apart the iPhone is that there is an actual medium to market the platform; through the app store. People download SNOOTH on their iPhone for wines via the app store (simple search for "wine" would probably work) and then visit snooth.com on their home computer to set up a more personalized account (and click advertisements, you profit hungy, hungry, hippos)

<b>This is about growing your user base, not catering to you current one.</b> Even though pleasing your current userbase is a fantastic byproduct.

I'm not the correct person to ask about growing your user base, but I reiterate my original question, how are you going to market a mobile "28k" version of SNOOTH to a new user base.

I'd love to hear the responses, I'm wildly enthusiastic about seeing this site grow, and quite frankly could care less about the iPhone, I just think it has the greatest potential userbase of any mobile device.

And now, if you're using on a mobile device that's not an iPhone (@HondaJohn -- I'm looking at you)

http://m.snooth.com/

Trimmed down for all devices. Snooth is on-the-go!

I agree with the need for an iPhone app. I was at Felidia's in NYC the other night. They have one of the most extensive Italian wine lists in the city. I sure could have benefitted from being able to view my personal wines, or look up a wine in a fast and unobtrusive way. As for speed, I find that apps designed for the iPhone run slightly faster than a web-page that's designed for the iPhone.

RobR - go to http://m.snooth.com - there's a generic mobile app already available.

Let us know what you think

It's not just you, RobR. Certain (important, imho) Snooth features like your wishlist, recommendations, this very forum are not yet available via any of the mobile interfaces. I've relaxed on my (previously evident in this very thread) whinging about it because I'm Trusting that it shall appear in the forseeable future.

(AHEM!)