Asking the Wrong Question

A question floated across my screen a few minutes ago through both Twitter and the Mobile Monday group. @sdevo says:

Wondering who the top 10 mobile app companies are ? My client (an MNO) wants to know who to follow, and in whom to invest in or partner with.

I think Steve’s client is asking the wrong question. I understand that the bizdev folk at the MNO have a strong desire to build relationships with the current leaders of the pack. It’s the way MNO’s think. But…

There’s a shift happening in mobile apps development which virtually guarantees that kind of thinking will miss the next big “killer” mobile app. The mobile world is becoming more like the web. As the cost of entry to become a mobile devloper falls more and more talented people with truly innovative ideas will jump in. That’s where the stunning applications originate.

Steve’s MNO client would be better served if they spent their resources figuring out how to lower the barriers of entry to enable more developers to create applications for their customers. Look at what Apple has done with the iPhone and the iTunes App Store. A programmer with a good idea but exactly zero experience writing mobile apps can, in about an hour learn everything he or she needs know know to develop, test, and sell an app. Apple has made the process clear, easy to understand, and easy to implement. …and $99 gets you all the development tools and certifications you need. To it’s credit Apple has kept a corporate culture that values the things that come out of garage shop development organizations, and I doubt it’s just because that’s how the company started.

I don’t actually know, but I suspect that Steve’s MNO client has a huge percentage of Symbian based phones deployed. See how much you can learn in an hour about how to develop and distribute an app for Symbian S60 (Soon to be Symbian^2). There’s a bewildering array of issues having to do with needing MNO approval for access to some system components, and handset manufacturer approval for some others. …and no clear path to market even with the advent of the new Nokia OVI store.

I think simplifying and adding clarity to the mobile app development – testing – approval – sales life cycle is the biggest challenge facing the Symbian Foundation moving forward. Yes, harmonizing, and opening, the various components that have been Symbian, S-60 and UIQ is a big job, but it’s not what’s going to bring the next killer app to Symbian first. I fear that the Foundation sees the handset manufacturers and the MNOs as their client base, and as long as those groups are asking the wrong questions the path to market for Symbian apps will remain far too complex and far too costly for the guys in the garages to do their first apps for Symbian^N.

We’ll see how things develop for Android, Palm, Windows Mobile and LiMo, but I’m confident that the platforms with the lowest friction development and delivery paths will get the killer apps first. …and aren’t killer apps what Steve’s MNO clients really want?

By the way… If I’m wrong about a one-hour tutorial for those other platforms, send me the link or post it in a comment here. I enjoy being wrong about things like that!