First up, his thoughts on the rush to grab the App Store mindshare:
How many of these companies have stopped to question the metrics (e.g. number of apps, downloads and developers) they are using to measure their success? If Google’s Android Market or Nokia’s Ovi Store outgrow the number of apps in the iOS App Store, will this - ultimately - improve the bottom line for these companies and the satisfaction of their customers?
But what should be of more interest to Nokia is his critique of the Developer Day, from the perspective of the developer. Nokia may have thought they had delivered a good day, but Pawlowski is not as confident.
The sheer number of people in the room meant that overcrowding was an issue – compounded by Nokia’s UK Managing Director happy to announce the session was standing room only. All Pawlowski took away was “Nokia didn’t give him a seat.”
Harsh, but small things like this are remembered. When a developer decides which platform to support, the backup and empathy offered can play a part.
Several of the developers I spoke with also felt they had been mis-sold. The invitation clearly stated: ‘There won’t be any PowerPoint presentations’, yet there were several hours of these, mainly delivered as monologues despite Nokia’s invitation for the audience to ask questions. When questions were asked, a considerable percentage of them could not be answered by Nokia’s spokespeople and were instead requested to be ‘taken off-line’…
It was obvious Nokia failed to achieve the tone they were aiming for. This was confirmed in the conversations I had with attending developers. While intrigued by the possibilities, they seemed unconvinced Nokia could provide much to help them and even more skeptical Nokia’s Ovi Store could provide as attractive a marketplace as the iOS App Store or Android Market.
This isn’t just a rant at the organisers, Pawlowski has taken the time to raise issues and make some constructive suggestions on the way forward. Hopefully people are taking notes.
Read the full article at MEX.