Facebook + iPhone = UltraCool
A pairing of the two most hyped tech products of the year: Facebook released what is arguably the single best iPhone-customized website to date at iphone.facebook.com. Like the Netvibes iPhone site which launched late yesterday, it isn't much to look at in a normal browser.
Context & Ripple Effects
Facebook's launch of iphone.facebook.com lands one day after Netvibes shipped its own iPhone-tuned site, turning the new device's browser into a contested front door for web services. TechCrunch calls Facebook's version the best iPhone-customized site yet, and Mashable's same-day pickup ('STUNNING') shows how far the story travelled beyond early adopters.
The move caps a busy stretch for Facebook: within the past week it opened notifications beyond its walled garden via new feeds, surfaced RSS including a Friends Status Updates feed, and pushed out a preliminary Data Store API in closed beta — all while, per July reporting, declining whispered multi-billion-dollar acquisition overtures to stay independent.
First-order effects
- iPhone owners get a touch-optimized Facebook experience delivered entirely through the browser, with interface quality — not feature count — as the immediate differentiator over Netvibes' day-old offering.
Second-order effects
- Every consumer web service now faces pressure to ship its own iPhone-specific front end or cede the device's browser to whichever rival looks and feels native first.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, major platforms will treat per-device interface craft as a core product surface rather than an accessory, with mobile browsers becoming the primary battleground for social-network engagement.
The trend: Social platforms are racing to rebuild their web products around the iPhone's touchscreen, making bespoke mobile interface design the newest axis of competition among consumer web services.