Nokia: failing to connect developers and consumers

When Internet Explorer was enjoying zero competition and was the dominant browser amongst all clicks, innovation stalled. Firefox was released for those who sought after an alternative. The bare bones browser was quick and efficient, but what made it special was the fact that it had an open extension system. Anyone could write their little piece of code and share it with the world.

Now if I as a user am looking to extend the functionality of Firefox, I don’t go into Google (NSDQ: GOOG), I go to the Firefox add-ons website. A central repository of all extensions created for this new revolutionary browser. All the extensions are categorized, and the people rate them. Everyone can leave a comment, feature request, or review of any extension out there.

The social aspect of the Firefox add-ons website is visible from the moment you go to the homepage. Popular, recommended, and new add-ons are listed for everyone to check out. There is also a search box so I may look for a particular feature that may interest me.

Ubuntu, the Linux distribution that is quickly become the most popular amongst geeks has a central store of applications called the “Software Repository.” One can search for any application or product feature he fancies. One can also rate that application. So from one browser window anyone can customize their Ubuntu install to their satisfaction by connecting to an almost infinite number of applications.

The key point I’m trying to demonstrate here is centralization of information. When a user tries to find an application for his Nokia (NYSE: NOK) phone he doesn’t know where to look. Even worse, he doesn’t even know that his phone may even run applications. What does the user do? Give up.

Why is it that geeks like me, and you probably reading this, have at least 2 applications on our phones? We are curious for information and we are social (blogs) about what applications are indispensable to us. We go above and beyond to maximize the capability of our devices. An ordinary user isn’t going to go that far.

Nokia needs to create a website with social underpinnings that lists every single Symbian application out there, and lets users discuss and rate said applications. Now I’m not saying that Nokia should go out and find every single application and give it its own section of this social software website. Leave that to the developers. It will start out slowly just like Firefox extensions website did, but more and more developers will want to put their application on the official Nokia repository just to be able to be a part of a massive database.

Users will now know where to look. They will be able to see what others have to say. They will be able to see which applications are compatible with which device. Palm (NSDQ: PALM) was the defacto standard for PDA’s for such a long time because of palm.com. One could simply type in those 7 short letters and be brought to a huge list of software that had real people talking about it.

So Nokia, if your motto really is “Connecting People,” why not try and make it easier for developers to connect with consumers? After all a platform is only as successful as its third party support.