An Equivalent Amount of Annoyance

“ First, the point of a developer device program is to lower the activation energy necessary for a developer to put something together for your platform. Meaning, if you’re offering a program to get me a $500 device to encourage me to make something of value on that platform, you can’t just replace that $500 with an equivalent amount of annoyance. ”

Mike Rowehl discussing Developer Device Programs, and how so many OEMs (but specifically Nokia today) are bad at promoting development on their handsets or OSs.

Tailfins & Chrome

For several years now, I've been enjoying mobile design as an exercise in streamlined, contextually-relevant design. Sure, it's also pretty or emotive, but that's for marketing. To get people in the door, or make their first few experiences matter. And then I saw a handful of OSs last week at Design for Mobile 2010 in Chicago. Or, more importantly, I saw the reaction of the designers and developers. I saw the attendance of various sessions. And my reaction is that right now it doesn't matter how useful something is, but how cool and new and exciting it appears to be. Just look at the above image. The 1949 Ford is a technical marvel. Even the frame is innovative. This ad talks about the braking most of all, but covers all sorts of additional features. The Cadillac of the same era (the 1948, actually) is entirely show and bluster. Yes, those are tailfins, the first ones we'd see of a long line of them. Now, the '49 Ford sold great. Because it was a terrific car, really a modern car in every way. But very, very soon the whole style looked dated. And I'll note Ford never did adopt the tailfin thing, and sold just fine despite this, throughout the crazy tailfin era. I sorta think Nokia is Ford in this tale. S^3 (and the stellar hardware) is shiny enough to please anyone, gets the work done, and is rock solid. But it doesn't apply a brand name to the display. It doesn't have animated squares on the idle screen. Etc. It also does keep selling (Nokia still by a wide margin the largest smartphone seller, worldwide), but does anyone talk about it? Naw. Not really. Who got the attention at the conference last week? Windows Phone 7. Else, which is pretty cool. An Android tablet someone was carrying around for work. iPad and iPhone strategies, and Apple didn't even show up themselves. Hell, even a pre-release Android I had got grabbed for some ooh and ahh time. In case you assume I am only being cynical, I am not. I am partly disappointed and cynical, but I can work with that. What it means to me is that my ideal OS is clearly not functionally the ideal thing to bring to market. If you hired me to design a new OS, or browser interface, I would know that it has to have something totally off the wall, just to have a hook for everyone to latch onto. It also means I have some hope for the future. No, it's not that everyone buys cars today based on their specifications. But in the 1960s, people also bought VWs. And after this was the muscle car era, where specs (and the appearance of having high spec) was critical. So... things will change, and my biggest takeaway is recognizing this trend. And that the mobile market is advanced enough it has trends. Not just winners and copycats, but market-wide consumer-level trends, which are worth exploiting, or understanding so you can try to undermine them.

N75

I have had my N75 for a few weeks now, and thought it was worth mentioning.

My very first mobile phone was from Sprint. I had used AMPS devices; bagphones abounded, and I even have a friend's long-abandoned Moto Dynasty in the museum above my desk. They were horrible. And being the nerd I was, I decided I liked CDMA, so waited for Sprint. I lived in Westport, and the Sprint store was walking distance, so I got one the week before they actually advertised availability: "so, you guys are open now?" "no, not really, but come in anyway." Hence, the 0455 number. Including all test devices and employee phones, I am #455 in the MSA.

Anyway, I have long known I was totally out of the loop on other interfaces. I only recently became aware that even companies like Motorola bend to Sprint's will a little, so even that interface is changing (3rd softkey on a RAZR?) when on Sprint. To get the experience, I need to change. Sprint made it easy, by insisting on signing me up for a THREE year contract when I get converted off the employee plan. So, I rushed out and got something. I settled on the N75 because its S60 (Symbian) but is still basically a phone.

But seriously, the possibility of a true featurephone seems really compelling. I sorta hate PDA-phones (my inherent dislike comes out in my iPhone commentary. My phone has to:

• Have a good radio. Strong, clear, interference-free. An antenna reasonably free from coupling and reasonably polarity-independent.


• Have reasonable battery life. Preferably all weekend. Willing to disable features to get this when I need it, but it needs to be possible.


• Make phone calls at the drop of a hat.


• Work with gloves, etc. No bare-finger interfaces. Haven't seen a touchscreen I'd want to use to exclusion, but it might happen.

Everything else is a bonus, as long as it doesn't intrude on these basics.

Overall, I think the N75 is about 75% of the way there. Really compelling product, which I am therefore starting to use for all sorts of non-phone enterprises. I read gmail on it all the time. I respond a couple times a week. I am starting to take photos with it, semi-seriously. I use the Opera browser a lot, for info I would previously have had to wait to find when I get home. Actually, I even pull it out and browse when I could go into the next room and get one of the several laptops we always have about.

The customization of apps is unbeatable. The ATTifying of the Nokia browser is lame as hell. Its really only used as a stepstone to download stuff now. The gmail app and some other things are unbeatable. Replacing the calculator is just nuts though. Never thought of a phone like that. Really, its a computer. Even has the ability to switch apps without abandoning. Which is really cool when you get it into your head. Data storage is pretty normal as well. Compare this to getting a KRZR to read ringtones off the SDcard.

If you think I am indeed addicted to my portable computer, note that the N800 sits on its kickstand on a shelf by the TV most of the time, instead.

That said, the N75 does have some downsides:

• Battery is not as good as it should be. Not great, but it should be better.


• Memory is too small. I run out. But a lot of this is AT&T's fault for leaving the music store running all the time.


• Yup, its got the AT&T overlay. Screams and animates at startup and shutdown, insists on saying their name on the greeting, has the stupid music app always open, and some other stuff. I may unlock and run the Nokia updater, which purportedly makes it a straight Nokia phone.


• No GPS. I go back and forth on this. Sure, I want it, but you could say its a pricey feature. If it wasn't in all sorts of $0 consumer phones purely for e911 purposes. Today, I find it inexcusable that this does not have a GPS. I use maps almost never as a result, and it makes me sad.


• Widgets are not widgets. They are just apps. The idle screen is too idle. I want the main menu on the idle screen, and I want portlet-like smart widgets. Apps can stay running, so why can't I get a count of new gmails on the idle screen?

More will be said about this, I am sure, in the context of additional thoughts on mobiles in the coming years.

P.S. Alison has the KRZR, so I still know how that works. The PM325 basically died, though. Anyone need one for spares?