IPhone Love and Hate

Posted by Ben Worthen

The iPhone is shaking up businesses and our inbox.

If you use the iPhone without IT’s permission, be glad Robert Mitchum isn’t your CIO

Apples device is a design triumph, has a better Web browser than other mobile phones, and is the first mainstream device with the potential to truly combine the rigors of professional life 24/7 email availability with the comfort of the personal 24/7 access to your music collection.

But the key word is potential: Many information-technology departments including the one at Dow Jones, the Wall Street Journals publisher banned the iPhone, arguing that it wasnt secure enough for corporate use. Workers used the iPhone anyway, however, and a few businesses went to great lengths in order to support the device. That was enough to convince business-software makers to tailor products for the iPhone despite ITs objections. In March, Apple announced a software upgrade that will make the iPhone more business friendly. Consequently, iPhones are heading into businesses like a runaway freight train.

We wrote about the impact this is having on businesses in todays Journal. And weve heard from a number of readers. As with any story that mentions Apple, weve heard from people who argued that if we didnt have anything good to say about the iPhone, we shouldnt have said it at all. (Interestingly, two of the people who sent messages along these lines misspelled Apple: It was Allple in one case and Apply in another.)

Here are a couple of reader comments that outline the good and the bad of corporate iPhones today:

I plan to introduce the iPhone to our staff as soon as its available, writes one tech exec. I think the iPhone will be a great option for our mobile workforce with far superior browser capabilities than any other device on the market today. I suspect I will have a fire sale coming up on Blackberry’s with mine being the first one on the pile.

We bought the iPhones Oct. 2007, writes another reader, who goes on to explain one problem of relying on a phone that can only operate on one carriers network. All worked well until Feb 19th 2008, when AT&T service stopped without notice. 5 days later, I find that my opened service call was closed with the response, we no longer have a tower in your area. AT&T response is we will let you out of your contract, but your phone won’t work with anyone else. Apple says it is AT&T problem. I think this is a perfect example of AT&T sole-sourced contract that gives their customers no recourse if they screw up.