Gopher on the Nokia X2
Written by James on May 14, 2013
Pocket Gopher
This is a Gopher client for mobile phones with J2ME (Java (2) Micro Edition).
It is a basic browser for the Gopher protocol. With it I can quickly check
the weather with the Floodgap Groundhog, read books in plain-text format,
and surf Gopher, e.g., the SDF Gopherspace.
I have a few minor complaints about Pocket Gopher. First is that the font it
uses is variable-width (at least on my phone), with no option to change it.
This is less than ideal for a Gopher client: many Gopher pages have ASCII art
pictures and depend upon the nature of fixed-width fonts for their design and
typography. Secondly, there is no bookmark feature (and the history only
lasts for the current session). Having to click through the same set of links
to get to the page you want every time is slow and annoying.
But enough of my negativity. There is a J2ME Gopher client! Wow! With the
magic of J2ME, a little Symbian S40 feature phone with a great hardware
keyboard is turned into a Gopher powerhouse!