Did you notice it is there? Well, maybe you did, because some geeky guys dropped you a line, but the newspapers did not really push the hype about the first phone with the Google operating system, Android. And actually, there is no real hype, it just lines up as any new phone. Why is that? Wasn’t it supposed to be “the next big thing”, “the real threat to the iPhone”?

Well, of course many of those brilliant analysts out there already made their statements why the G1 is not creating cues in the streets. But we have our own thery about why the G1 is not the next big thing. The answer is easy, probably too easy for some of you out there: It is too open.

Do not get me wrong: I like open systems. I like to configure my own operating system, I like to modify the settings, even my W960i looks like an iPhone now. But the thing is: One of the reasons the iPhone is so very successful because it is not open. Because you cannot change the settings at all. Because people fear they could do something wrong.

And where is the hype? There is none, because “open system” is pretty much what people expect from Linux. But Linux did not achieve to become a mass market operating system, although it might be the best solution out there. But from the outside it still looks like a geeky tool for nerds. And Android creates the same impression right now. If Google does not do very much about this the phones will fail.

Apple still has the lead over the rest of the industry because they communicate their products way better than anyone else. Why does not Google do it the same? They could, we all know it. Making everything “free” may work on computers, because that is a new new approach compared to why Microsoft used to do for decades. But on phones everyone expects this stuff to be free anyway. No, I am not talking extra applications, I am talking about the operating system.

Google, you will have to rethink your strategy. This way it will not work out for the masses.