iPhone- Cool toy or IT menace?
The new Apple iPhone has been one of the hot IT topics since the video of it’s innovative interface first hit the front of Apple’s web site. I’ve only physically held one once because, yes, you guessed it, Gary Boomer bought an iPhone.
The Exchange question
I can tell you that it seems to be as smooth and slick in hand as it is in the ads. On the other hand, the IT folks are been wondering, what’s an iPhone going to do to my life? Will it connect to Exchange? We got our first IT question on the Boomer Knowledge Network forums today and I have a feeling it won’t be the last time it comes up.
Thanks to a post by Matthew in Circle 8, we know Microsoft’s answer to the IT question from the Microsoft Exchange blog: Sort of, but not really. If you expect the iPhone to integrate, you need to lower your expectations.
It will cooperate to the basic level of being able to send and receive email, but even that’s very basic compared to what a supported smart phone will do. If you want calendaring, contacts, tasks, and other pieces, you won’t have them. There are lots of rumors that Apple plans to change this, so we’ll see what happens over the next few months.
Long term impact
On the other hand, the iPhone will have long-term , positive effects on the mobile phone industry. Just as Apple Mac OS X has raised the bar for user interfaces on the desktop, so will the iPhone raise the bar for what folks want out of a mobile phone.
There are several other phones out on the market that aren’t as well hyped, but are seeking the same niche. More will certainly follow.
This is also a demonstration of another trend that everyone in business needs to take heed of. Consumer products are driving innovation in many fields right now and those innovations inevitably end up being brought to business.
Blogging used to be a personal journaling phenomenon and now anybody who’s anybody in business has one. When the iPod hit, it was just for music. Now, you might even get an MP3 player paid for by the company to catch up on your business news podcasts while commuting to work.
Business technology and consumer technology is blending together and whether the IT managers like it or not, this is going to be a stronger force in the future to be reckoned with.
Cheers.
