IPhone for my marketing?

I use the iPhone. For me it works great as an all purpose entertainment, business and information machine. Of course you're paying for a gadget, and there are plenty of equally good alternatives, but the convenience of having a small multi-purpose device on hand all the time for me far outweighs the disadvantages.

For me, I have a selection of music and video available at all times, access to my e-mails (the screen is great for receiving and reading - replying is doable, like any mobile device, but I wouldn't send anything long), a great internet browser, gps, and excellent search facilities.

I've used it for streaming mobile TV on demand from BBC iplayer when I've been away from home (the screen is great for that), plus finding nearby petrol stations (using built in google location sensitive mapping) when I ran low in Cardiff recently. And of course I've read the Warrior Forum on it.

So, it's multi-purpose, if you want a purely perfect business machine it's not that, but, for me, multi purpose is the way forward.

Why does he need a blackberry over the Iphone and why are you laughing at the Iphone.

Please backup your statement.

I totally agree. i think you cannot easily install helpful tools for working, in your iphone, like excell, etc, etc.. i am just assuming. because of the fact that iphone is not fond of third party softwares.

I just returned my iPhone after having it for 2 weeks. In the end, the iPhone bricked itself when updating to version 2.1. Yes, you read that correctly. The phone tried to update itself on Saturday night and ended up with an error 6 that left the Apple techs speechless and my phone completely dead. Thank god I had it for only 2 weeks. If I had a year's worth of info and apps, I would have been pisssssed.

I have since reverted back to my Treo 650.

Here are my thoughts from my 2 week stint...

• The internet browsing is amazing. If you want internet and only internet, get it.
• The App store and extras in there are mindblowing. You can find nearly any app. Social networking, Phanfare, Smugmug, everyone seems to have an app.
• The photos are way better than my Treo 650. It was nice being able to upload them to my Phanfare account on the fly.
• The email is amazing, until you have to type an actual email. Which brings me to...
• The 'onscreen' keyboard sucks. Clunky as hell, errors are common. After having a Treo for so long, I just hated the onscreen keyboard. I love buttons!
• Copy and Paste does not exist. This killed me. Also, you can't run 'background tasks' so if you took a picture and are uploading it, you need to stay in that app until it's done. If you get a call, the action stops. Same goes for anything else (sending emails).
• My Treo, Nokia...hell, all my phones sound better. The earpiece isnt' very crisp. Minor issue though.
• Your reception will vary wildly (1 bar here, move 1 step left and 3 bars there) because the iPhone is using a new wifi radio that's never been heavily tested. Supposed version 2.1 fixes some of it's issues but the response from the public is mixed.
• I use Microsoft Exchange and the calendar is heavily used. The iPhone does not have a way to mark Events as "private". So if you're sharing your calendar with someone else, they'll see your Karaoke Singing Appointment at 1pm on Thrusday.
• The battery life is absolutely horrendous. The phone dies in 24 hours if you don't touch it at all (with Wifi, Location and Bluetooth disabled). If you make a few calls and surf a few sites, expect it to last 4 hours. So if you're in the field a lot, the iPhone will be a pain in the butt and you'll find yourself plugged in all the time. I'm serious...the battery life sucks!
• The battery cannot be changed. It's sealed and soldered into the motherboard. You'll need to send it off and pay $80 or so to get it replaced by Apple. And Apple will wipe your phone's data along the way.
• iTunes can screw up. I'm a living example. I tried to install version 2.1 to fix battery life issues and reception. Along the way, iTunes rendered my phone dead. Had I not been 30 days into the purchase, I would have been screwed. The Apple tech told me they would replace it within the 1 yr warranty, but I'd be phoneless for a good week while it was mailed out. (What happens after 1 yr but before your 2 year contract expires?)
• Plus, in the process of screwing my phone, iTunes also killed my restore file...so all my data was lost (except the stuff on the Exchange server).
• Text messages will always pop up on the home screen and cannot be blocked or hidden in any way. So if you're in a business meeting and you leave the phone on the table, anyone that glances at it will see the "i need some loving" text from your wife.
• Apple is charging $30 for the necessary data plan. My Treo uses an unlimited $14.99 plan. doesn't make sense, does it? The Apple rep told me AT&T buys the phones for $399 from Apple and makes back the missing $200 from it's Data plan. Meanwhile, Apple gets something like $1 per phone per month for that data plan...and there's 280 million phones out there. You do the math. (Hint: they're making $$$$!)

This is all I can think of right now. Oh...and the apple rep told me there's another one coming out in January. Seriously. He said this.

If you want email on the road, get a Blackberry. My wife (who hates cell phones) loves it. I also like it. But don't get the Pearl...get the Curve and any other model with a full keyboard. You may want to also glance at the Blackjack II, AT&T Tile or Palm 680 or 750. The buttons make a huge difference when typing.

I love my Treo (and it's 4 day standby battery life).

Good luck.

For the record... I hate cell phones... for only one reason...

When I was doing my last stint at a University my roommates were always on the internet (dial up).

So I got a Verizon phone... the reception was not that good so after my year contract was up I called to cancel.

They told me I could not cancel. Even though I had only agreed to a year they made up some bull sneaky stuff claiming that my contract had been renewed even though I had not renewed it.

So I told the person on the phone I was going to pay $175 cancellation fee for the right to never do business with Verizon again.

That was 6 years ago.

To this date I refuse to do business with any cell phone company that requires a contract. Instead I use netzero when I need it...

I get the best coverage in the US (they rent access from all the top providers) for 10 cents a minute... as little as $10 a month if I want to keep the phone active.

I have found that there is almost no time in my life that a cell phone has been important... and the very few times that it has been important has been less than 100 minutes in 6 years.

However, I am also a gadget guy... and for this reason the iphone is pretty attractive to me... though the fact that they stupidly decided to lock it to At&t one of the worst networks in America and a company that I also refuse to do business with if at all possible is an un-sell for me...

Here is what I am waiting for:


As soon as I see a really good Android phone offered on a great network that has a no contract pay as you go option...

I'll stick to my wifi iPod touch, my laptop computer, and my 10 cent a minute netzero disposable phone for traveling...

Yeah I know I am an odd duck but I refuse to let another company try and hold me prisoner ever again...

At least until I embark on my new career as a world explorer and need a satelite contract ;-)

I did an experiment this last January.. I spoke at a seminar in Orlando, FL and decided to try and only use the iPhone for those 3 days to manage my business.

The number one reason I chose iPhone was for the kick butt browser; I tested a lot of things including Blackberry and the iPhones couldn't be touched..

My thought process was I could check in all my memberships, blogs, ppc accounts etc.. and post to them, manage them as needed in the palm of my hand.

It worked ok.. I did have some issues where I lost posts; and, at the time, it didn't have copy and paste.

But with 3.0 arriving today, it does have copy and paste and some other new features...

I would say if you are going to do major work on the road, you'll probably still need a laptop or whatever.. but for just checking in, managing communications, posting content, checking and managing various accounts and your sites, e-mailing (great for gMail) it's great.

The social apps are awesome as well.. if you want to still stay connected and socialize on the go, hands down, it rocks.

To name just a few things..