It’s Time To Make Some Changes

Several years ago I was looking to consolidate from carrying both a cell phone and a pocket pc as there was a new breed of cell phones being called “converged” devices that I really was interested in. The first that really caught my eye was the AT&T 8125. I really liked the device and I read what I thought was half the internet looking for more information on how to maximize the performance of the device. At that time, the majority of the websites basically reported about tweaks and third party software for a variety of devices, and not just one specifically. That was fine and I continued on until I finally came to the AT&T Tilt. I really liked that device. But I had grown frustrated that there wasn’t a website dedicated to just the AT&T Tilt or HTC TyTN II that I could get all my information from and network with other 8925 Tilt and TyTN II owners. So since I had been blogging for a while on MobilitySite.com, I asked Chris Leckness if he would start up a new website called TiltSite.com which we did. It went really well but towards the end of the Tilt’s life cycle I was already looking to do something else. TiltSite was really outside of what Chris wanted to do so I went off and started Tilt Mobility and was looking towards future devices. Tilt Mobility as I mentioned was at the end of the cycle and AT&T was to bring on the Touch Pro, or to be called the Fuze. The device was a huge hit and so was the website I created, Fuze Mobility. We got tons of traffic and a lot links from other much larger mobility websites but inevitably the same thing was destined to happen to the Fuze that happened to the Tilt, a newer device would come out. In this case, it would be called the Touch Pro 2. So even though I saw the hand writing on the wall, I started TP2 Mobility. I never really announced it as I was really not interested in doing another “niche” website. And Since I had already created Mobility Digest, which is broader focused website covering anything mobility related. I knew that was the direction I needed to go because devices are being released at a substantially greater speed than ever before. So that is a little about the history and where we are today for those new to our community. So where do we go from here? Well, that is the point after getting long winded. The time has come to merge our community of websites together into one website. It has grown way too difficult to maintain 4 websites and forums as it causes a lot of extra work to post 4 times to 4 websites. So in the very near future, I am going to have to have to redirect Tilt Mobility, Fuze Mobility, and TP2 Mobility to Mobility Digest.

Before I do this, I would like to hear from you and get the communities feedback on this.The last thing I want to do is run everyone off or kill what we have built. The upside to doing this is one, it will make things a lot easier on us and allow us to focus more on writing instead of the work involved to maintain all of the websites. Another key improvement is that we will have everyone commenting on the same article, not 2 comments on Tilt Mobility, 5 on Fuze Mobility, and 3 on Mobility Digest. It would be combined with 10 comments all in one article, the same article. The downside. I have not come up with a way to make one database out of the three without enormous expense and labor. All of which I do not have. Losing traffic and cutting into the small amount of ad money would not be good. To date, we only have Google Adsense on our websites and nothing else in an effort to keep things clean. As a result we don’t make much and it costs money to keep this going. Another downside might be that Windows Mobile readers that is  a majority of may not like looking at other device platforms some of our writers have gotten interested in such as Android. (ahem-Doug Simmons) In that case we have created sub domains that will filter content and still give readers a “niche” feel to it. I think another issue might be leaving a familiar Tilt/Fuze Mobility theme that we have had for so long going to the Mobility Digest Theme? How does everyone feel about the theme?

Those are some of the things I can think of and before I make this change I really want to hear from our readers and try to implement any suggestions that don’t involve me mortgaging my house to do. Thank you so much for being part of our community. I look forward to hearing from you. You can either post a comment or email me direct at doug at mobility digest dot com. 

Thank you

Doug Smith