Welcome to CNET Top 5, where each time we meet, we count down another hot
CNET list. I'm Tom Merritt.
Daniel Cruz wrote me an e-mail recently asking, "Have you ever did a CNET top
worst mobile sites? If not, I will gladly tell you the main one. Hotmail.com."
Daniel thinks it's just awful. So I asked you folks out there, as well as our
smartphone expert Bonnie Cha, just which mobile Web sites are the worst.
We found 5 considered to be worse than Hotmail.
Let's count 'em down.
At No. 5, Digg.com. This one surprised me because the headline browsing is pretty
good. But you folks who responded from Twitter and Facebook hated it. You want
the full experience of the Digg commenting and social engine! Digg fans demand
better!
Coming in at No. 4, NBA.mobi. How do you make a site specifically for mobile and
not have it fit the phone's screen. Plus, Bonnie says it "looks like crap" and I kinda
agree.
Up to No. 3, United Airlines at ua.flightlookup.com. Mobile airline sites aren't always
the greatest, but this one is the worst of the bunch. It's just harder to use and find
information with it than it is at other airlines.
Sliding in at No. 2, AAA.mobi. This pains me too, because I'm a big fan of the
Automobile Association of America. But the roadside assistance link just gives you a
phone number--no other info--and entering info for driving directions was an
exercise in pure frustration.
Before we get to No. 1, an acknowledgment. We received a lot of suggestions for this
Top 5. Turns out most mobile sites actually suck. And while you seem to like a lot of
CBS Interactive mobile sites, not all were exempt from your disdain. Which CBSi site
received the most votes? Hint: it wasn't CNET and it only got two votes.
Be one of the first 10 people to guess correctly on our posting at blog.cnettv.com and
you could win this beautiful 'Star Wars Episode 1' Electronic CommTech
Reader...thing. I don't know; it's mobile. And it's signed by the CNET mobile team,
who are working hard to make all our mobile sites better.
All right. Let's get to our No. 1. The worst mobile Web site that you may ever have
the unfortunate experience of browsing on your phone.
At No. 1, it's...any site with Flash. This is a huge problem for phones that don't have
Flash capability, like the iPhone. But even phones with FlashLite have issues. I don't
know how many restaurant sites have lost me as a customer because they had no
text version of their Web site. This broken box does not entice me to eat at your
establishment, watch your movie, or anything else!
Well, that's it for this edition of CNET Top 5.
Don't forget to guess which CBSi site you didn't like and win the 'Star Wars Episode
1' CommTech Reader. Go to blog.cnettv.com to play.
I'm Tom Merritt. See you next time.
