Is there a mobile web version of Fluther that I can use, preferably with very minimal graphics and with pages / links tailored for a mobile web browser?

While we're working on mobile.fluther.com, can you turn CSS off on your mobile web browser?

@andrew -- Unfortunately, my browser doesn't let me disable CSS.

But it's good to know that there'll eventually be a mobile version. If you need a beta tester, just let me know! 8-)

mdy, i have a solution

opera has launched its first mobile web browser that lets you surf the full internet. Its still in beta. For your phone, you can download it from http://www.operamini.com/beta/
or if you have a pocket pc http://www.opera.com/products/mobile/products/winmobileppc/

PS. your bill will skyrocket upward without a data plan.I id the same thing as you and ended up getting a $210 monthly billl instead of 50.

@mizra -- Thanks for your suggestion. I downloaded and installed Opera Mini on my Treo 600 (I downloaded the PalmApp version). Unfortunately, I got an error message when I ran it. Apparently, Opera Mini needs a JVM and it prompted me to install one from IBM Websphere. I'm afraid I gave up at that point.

As far as displaying actual web pages goes, I'm actually fairly happy with Blazer, which is the web browser that comes with the Treo 600 (although I'm always happy to try new ones).

I guess what I'm really looking for (which I didn't explain properly in my original message) is a scaled down version of Fluther that's been designed for mobile web viewing.

I've been "conditioned" by other sites to expect that the links and content of the mobile web version will be a carefully-thought-out subset of the full web version, with a lot less functionality.

Some examples:

1. http://twitter.com vs. http://m.twitter.com
The difference is even more obvious if you're logged in.

2. http://30boxes.com vs. http://m.30boxes.com
The web version is very heavy on java / Ajax. The mobile version is simple and lean HTML.

3. See also Gmail (http://gmail.com) and Google Reader (http://google.com/reader), which are the two other services that I frequently access via mobile web. The full web versions are very different from the mobile web versions.

In fact, I've noticed that with the mobile web versions of the various services above, a single mobile web page is usually around 5kb to 16kb in size (with images disabled). Even with images disabled on my browser, the current Fluther home page (beautiful as it is) was well over 156kb.

Oh, and the main reason why I'm looking forward to a mobile web version is this -- reasonable data plans aren't available yet with the mobile carrier companies where I'm at. I either have to pay a fixed amount for every 30-minute session, or I have to pay according to a per-kb charge. There's no unlimited data plan (not yet anyway) available to me as part of my mobile phone package.

Anyway, this is all just my preference, which may not be relevant at all to the majority of Fluther's users. I just figured that it wouldn't hurt to ask. 8-) Thanks again!

@mdy: if you have a treo 600, try switching to "fast" mode (if it's anything like the 700p, there's a lightning icon at the top). This will give you the stripped down version of Fluther, sans css and images.

Just for the record...Fluther's files are zipped down the wire so the treo's numbers are misleading. The main page weighs in at 52K without images, around 92K with them.

@andrew -- thanks for the info re: Blazer's "fast mode" and for correcting me on the page size.

I did a Google search and saw on Wikipedia that the "fast mode" feature was introduced in Blazer's ver 4.3 (which came out with the Treo 650). It's apparently not available for the Treo 600 which only works with Blazer ver 3.0. How frustrating! (It seems every day brings me yet another reason to consider getting a new phone.)

Anyway, my web surfing *did* lead me to another browser that's called Xiino, which is supposedly faster than Blazer and works with Treo 600. I'll try installing that and see how it goes. Thanks again!

mdy, sorry it didnt work for your treo
opera mini works fine with my samsung blackjack

@mizra -- I think the limitation is with my phone. It's almost 3 years old now -- which as we all know is a long time in mobile-phone-years. hehe.

@andrew -- Good news. Xiino worked! I was able to download a 30-day evaluation copy and it allows me to load Fluther's site without CSS and images! Woot! For some strange reason, though, it can't handle xhtml, so it won't load Twitter's mobile site. So for now it looks like I'll be keeping both Blazer and Xiino on my phone.