I've written a bit here and there about my {love, hate, joy, frustration, etc} with the app store phenomenon. One consistent theme in my 9 years in mobile has always been the sense of 'what if'. What if more people knew about what we were doing. I've been party of some great companies that have created great games, messaging applications and other content, but the reality has always been we only every really address a tiny percentage of the market (the Golden Nickle).
Now the App Store movement does have some chance in changing that in a positive way if executed properly. What needs to be noted is that for the market to grow we need not only good on-device discovery (and great devices), but also good online discovery. It is clear that all our customers (at least in North America and Western Europe) are online. We need these app store efforts to consider that as much as they consider on device initiatives. Apple has obviously done a nice job with the iTunes Store (although I do have some suggestions for improvement). It is up to other market entrants to meet and exceed this bar.
It is for this challenge that I've accepted a new position as VP, Business Development for Mpowerplayer. Mpowerplayer is helping operators, handset manufacturers, publishers and anyone else selling content online to increase sales by offering trial and merchandising solutions. To boot, the company is linking content discovery to social media services creating the concept of social selling. I'm very excited to start this new position and make better app stores!
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