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Apple Dumbphone: A Social Tool NOT A Business Tool

a456

a456

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 5, 2005
882
0
How can Apple call the iPhone a smartphone if they are going to continuously restrict and censor its usage? After all, they made bluetooth tethering so easy with other mobiles years ago and now won't implement it on their own phone. From the 72k+ views that the NetShare thread has received it is obvious people want (and most expect) tethering. Come on Apple you must have leverage with the mobile providers given the success of the iPhone - get stroppy with them and demand better.

Then there are VOIP restrictions. Sure O2 have to make money but 3 managed to offer the Skype phone without going bankrupt - can no similar deals be struck? I run a small business and I'd like ideally to be able to enter the SIP ID for any VOIP provider in order to use the iPhone at home.

Then there are email attachments, which FileMagnet say they are working towards. But if there's no tethering, the ability to send documents synced from our laptops and computers should definitely be there.

This is not the attitude that will see broad business adoption. At the moment the iPhone is a social tool not a business tool. Must do better.
 
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Because a smartphone doesn't have to be a business phone. Treo users brag of their ability to open and create word documents. Great, but who wants to write a report on a screen half the size of the iPhone? Blackberry does email nicely. That's it.
 
Employees (like yourself) who want a 'business' phone, go get yourself a Blackberry
 
A smartphone is something with more capabilities of a regular cell phone.

I'd say the ability to watch great quality movies, open email attachments, install programs, control things on your PC or home media center, access full internet webpages, access exchange, having a full QWERTY keyboard make it a smartphone... not to mention the other things it has over regular cell phones.

Just because it isn't built primarily for business function doesn't mean it's not a smartphone... it means it's not a business phone.

Get some common sense before bashing on a product.
 
-1 for the inflammatory thread title.

All in good time.

You can see Apple "means business". They've taken on the critics for the 1st round, as to what business wanted foremost. IF they'd screamed tethering at the start, maybe it would have been higher up on the list of things to do.

Tethering is a tricky situation for carriers, as they know that people would use their "fair use" allowance a lot more. They'll be bringing it in at some point. Till then, a legitimate need can use the carrier's mobile broadband if they need it that much. I know O2 provides a dongle service for example.

By not doing tethering the cutomer is at least able to choose which mobile broadband provider to go with. If you can provide many examples of tethering smartphones in business, it would be useful for the discussion. I'd imagine it's not just the iPhone.

There is a hell of a difference between a skype phone and an iPhone. If you want VoIP for work, then use wifi, or get a Skype phone! Or sort a bolt on and get cheaper calls.

Email attachments? It opens more than a Blackberry. You can even edit excel if you want. It doesn't replace a laptop... It augments one.

I'd imagine Apple would want the entire infrastructure sorted before opening up things, rather than doing it piecemeal.
 
Business can afford a data card for their laptop and wouldn't care about tethering.

The great push email of Blackberry is nice but in reality very few people actually need push email. Checking email every 15 minutes is plenty for most people.
 
OK, so I knew this would wind people up, but I view myself as part of the Apple (business) demographic: self-employed/small business, in the publishing industry, and I would be interested to know if others in this demographic, such as graphic designers can hand on heart say that buying an iPhone is worth the money as a business tool or if they bought it because they wanted it.
 
The only thing dumb is the original post.

I suspect i have done more business in the past 13 months with my iPhones than the OP will accomplish in his entire life.

Being a cubicle drone is not business. I don't know how, when, why, the mass production of clock punchers and middle-managers took claim to "business"
 
The iPhone is far from dumb, but it is more of a consumption tool, than a production tool(additional 1st& 3rd party apps excepted).
 
BergerFan said:
The iPhone is far from dumb, but it is more of a consumption tool, than a production tool(additional 1st& 3rd party apps excepted).
Click to expand...

You got it - "consumption tool".

The iPhone is a very different market and aimed at a very different sort of person to the Mac (at the present time anyway.)
 
marksman said:
Being a cubicle drone is not business. I don't know how, when, why, the mass production of clock punchers and middle-managers took claim to "business"
Click to expand...

Why would I disagree? I've never worked in a cubicle farm or punched a clock in my life.
 
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its smarter than your average phone.
 
Yes, it's a smartphone by definition. No, it does not yet have every feature imaginable. If it doesn't meet your specific needs buy something else.
 
wronski said:
If it doesn't meet your specific needs buy something else.
Click to expand...

The thing that frustrates me the most is that it so easily could if artificial restrictions were not placed upon it.
 
Their vision doesn't meet your vision. Features might change in the future but right now the iPhone is still very much a "business" tool. Maybe it's not for your business, that's totally reasonable, but it's not dumb just because you want some other features on it.
 
a456 said:
How can Apple call the iPhone a smartphone if they are going to continuously restrict and censor its usage? After all, they made bluetooth tethering so easy with other mobiles years ago and now won't implement it on their own phone. From the 72k+ views that the NetShare thread has received it is obvious people want (and most expect) tethering. Come on Apple you must have leverage with the mobile providers given the success of the iPhone - get stroppy with them and demand better.

Then there are VOIP restrictions. Sure O2 have to make money but 3 managed to offer the Skype phone without going bankrupt - can no similar deals be struck? I run a small business and I'd like ideally to be able to enter the SIP ID for any VOIP provider in order to use the iPhone at home.

Then there are email attachments, which FileMagnet say they are working towards. But if there's no tethering, the ability to send documents synced from our laptops and computers should definitely be there.

This is not the attitude that will see broad business adoption. At the moment the iPhone is a social tool not a business tool. Must do better.
Click to expand...

do some research before making such outrageous accusations

1. a tethering app exists. $10 one time fee instead of $30 a month. check the app store

2. a voip app is almost ready for release that will own skype. it allows you to merge a normal call onto a voip network without stopping. on a call and walk into a building with wifi? switch to voip and save minuites instantly

3. the iPhone supports more attachments than anything else. all the office files (i think you can even edit them) and pdf, plus iWork files. what other phone supports iWork?


i find your failure to find a true complaint about a feature that is lacking laughable. if anything, its missing vital components to be a social tool. everything needed for business is already there
 
dccorona said:
do some research before making such outrageous accusations

1. a tethering app exists. $10 one time fee instead of $30 a month. check the app store

2. a voip app is almost ready for release that will own skype. it allows you to merge a normal call onto a voip network without stopping. on a call and walk into a building with wifi? switch to voip and save minuites instantly

3. the iPhone supports more attachments than anything else. all the office files (i think you can even edit them) and pdf, plus iWork files. what other phone supports iWork?


i find your failure to find a true complaint about a feature that is lacking laughable. if anything, its missing vital components to be a social tool. everything needed for business is already there
Click to expand...

1. If you are talking about NetShare it has been removed from the App store.

2. Almost ready, OK fair point and there is Truphone.

3. You can't attach a file to an email. You can only receive and forward attachments. Therefore if you are away and have a laptop on which you have been working, but no available WiFi, then there is no way to get that file onto your iPhone and send it anywhere (or alternatively to tether it and send it direct from the laptop) - this is a common requirement for those who don't work in cubicles and travel around.
 
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I actually agree with the ts about here bing too many restrictions set on the phone. imagine if there
weren't. it would be one hell of a device.
 
iWork? Wow that's huge!

The iPhone has a way to come before it can really be a competitor to the blackberry or treo devices that utilize Goodlink. Apple isn't ready (or hasn't decided) to be part of the business world.

I firmly believe if Apple would convince Goodlink to write an iPhone app, not only would Apple prove to be serious about the business market, but be a real competitor to BB.

PS I love my iPhone and hate my Treo.
 
wronski said:
Number 3 would be nice.
Click to expand...

There is an App called FileMagnet (http://www.magnetismstudios.com/FileMagnet/), that can get a document onto your iPhone but this is what they say about emailing it on:

Can I email files from FileMagnet? Not yet, but we're working on it! The iPhone version of Mail doesn't support sending attachments, so this will require a bit of work.
Click to expand...

It is an acceptable compromise, and I hope that Apple doesn't block attempts on purpose to stop this happening.
 
I find it to be a great smartphone, it does way more than any other phone or PDA I've owned. Sure there are some limitations, but for me its a great smartphone.
 
love my iPhone 3g but it's barely a smartphone. I would rather call it an entertainment phone. I still love it all the same but I agree with the OP.
 
eplchamps0304 said:
love my iPhone 3g but it's barely a smartphone. I would rather call it an entertainment phone. I still love it all the same but I agree with the OP.
Click to expand...
how is it not a smartphone?

A smartphone is a mobile phone offering advanced capabilities beyond a typical mobile phone, often with PC-like functionality. There is no industry standard definition of a smartphone. For some, a smartphone is a phone that runs complete operating system software providing a standardized interface and platform for application developers. For others, a smartphone is simply a phone with advanced features.
Click to expand...
In terms of features, most smartphones support full featured email capabilities with the functionality of a complete personal organizer. Other functionality might include an additional interface such as a miniature QWERTY keyboard, a touch screen or a D-pad, a built-in camera, contact management, an accelerometer, built-in navigation hardware and software, the ability to read business documents in a variety of formats such as PDF and Microsoft Office, media software for playing music, browsing photos and viewing video clips, internet browsers or even just secure access to company mail, such as is provided by a BlackBerry.
Click to expand...
iPhone does everything there
and look here, it features the iPhone and iPhone OS
 
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