iPhone, Do You?

Happy New Year! It’s colder than a polar bear’s toenail in D.C. and it seems everywhere else in the U.S. is experiencing the cold front. Snow is accumulating in the north and the only thing lower than the temperatures in the south are Franz Leger’s droopy pants. In England, some baby hedgehogs are too weak to hibernate because the drop in temperatures is causing a shortage in food.

So the holidays are over and there’s a good chance you got an iPhone as a gift. Now you’re almost as cool as Lindsay Lohan.



With your new toy, you can now talk on the phone, listen to music, check your email, browse the Internet, and watch YouTube videos whenever you want. But with music videos on YouTube like this, are you sure you want Rod Stewart, Bryan Adams, and Sting at the palm of your hands?



Well there’s a few things you should know about the iPhone before you think it’s going to replace BlackBerrys and Microsoft-operated smartphones. I’m sorry to break it to you but the iPhone, at least the first generation of them, is not going to be welcome by network administrators. Being the first generation, it obviously has its kinks that will no doubt be worked out by the second release. The iPhone also works exclusively with AT&T’s network in the U.S., which limits the number of potential consumers. Companies often have their phones under the same plan and expect corporate discounts when purchasing devices in bulk but AT&T won’t sell the iPhone to business accounts, only individual consumers.

Not only does the iPhone come with a hefty price tag (though there was a $200 drop before the holidays), but the iPhone is essentially one piece; it lacks a removable battery so, if the battery dies, so does the device. Although, the support tools that they provide are pretty foolproof.



There are also a number of security reasons why IT won’t support the iPhone. It doesn’t support securing data through file or disk encryption and it can’t be remotely wiped like a BlackBerry. This poses an issue when an employee loses an iPhone and it contains thousands of corporate, confidential email.

And lastly, when put to the blender test, it doesn’t hold up very well.



Not only that, but if you’re going overseas, you may want to leave your new toy at home. I don’t know of many companies that will reimburse you for a $2,000 phone bill.