Nexus One and Simplicity

Last week, Google made a splash with their new Google Nexus One phone. Features are said to be out of this world, the open nature of it both with applications and also with the phone network is great for us all.

But when are technology companies going to learn that the magic of Apple is not that they have the best ideas around products or that their CEO is some incredible genius in a black turtleneck.

The magic of Apple since Steve Jobs has been around is that they understand the customer experience. They understand that if they make it easy and they make it enjoyable, then they will have customers for life.

Google is going to learn a hard lesson on this release of the Nexus One that email and community based customer service will only suffice for a small few. If they plan on this phone being something that can appeal to the masses, they will need a real plan for customer service. And a real plan is not email responses in three days or forums where people suggest the best answer to you. It also is not calling one number if it is a hardware problem that goes to HTC. Another number if it is a network problem that goes to Tmobile and then trying to get a hold of Google over email if it is a software problem.

People want simplicity in their lives, not more complexity.