This famous line was issued by Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, at a developers conference where he ran around the stage screaming “developers!” like a big sweaty gorilla. He had a point though: The success or failure of a software platform often depends on the quantity and quality of the third-party developers it can attract. I made a big splash last week after posting a rant about the process of developing an app for RIM’s upcoming Playbook tablet. So far, I’ve received just over 80,000 unique hits on my blog, and have been linked to by Daring Fireball, Slashdot, Business Insider, and countless others. Based on the comments and emails I’ve received, I’m not the only who has had problems with RIM’s developer tools.
If you want to read more about my experience, just Google for “You win, RIM”. This article is about how RIM can improve their positioning in this new market for mobile app developers. I think we can all agree that the iPhone changed the game when it came to developing application for mobile devices. Previously, mobile development was the realm of in-house developers at banks and government. It was a day job. Post-iPhone, it is now the realm of the latte-drinking hipster you see permanently parked on a table at your local Starbucks. These independent developers are now in the driver’s seat and if you want them to add value to your platform, you’re going to need to provide them with a similarly seamless experience that they’re used to getting from your competitors.
So what does this mean for RIM? Well, RIM can no longer depend on corporate lock-in to provide them with a large pool of third-party developers who will play a critical role in attracting new customers to their platform. RIM must now compete against the likes of Apple, who have a long history of attracting talented developers. RIM is, by and large, the underdog in the market for mobile app developers and when you’re the underdog, you must try 10 times as hard, not 1/4 as hard. There are three things that RIM needs to do to get more traction.
First, they need to make the registration process simple. Apple requires your to enter your personal information once and a credit card number. For RIM, anything more complicated than this is too complicated.
Second, they need to make their tools simpler and more integrated. I’m sure that as Waterloo engineers you’re all accustomed to using complicated command line tools, but the hipster at Starbucks isn’t, doesn’t want to be, and shouldn’t have to be.
Third, their documentation needs to be checked and rechecked. Erroneous and incomplete documentation is one of the most frustrating things a developer can experience, especially when it comes from the company itself.
Obviously, there are many other factors that come into play when a developer is choosing a platform to work with, and I can’t tell RIM how to fix their developer program in 500 words, but executing on those three things would go a long way to showing the developer community that RIM cares about making their development process both smooth and, more importantly, competitive.
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