Over the past several months, I’ve slowly begun experimenting in the Apple camp. Having recently purchased a new macBook Pro laptop, to be used as my primary machine, officially combining my previous Toshiba Tecra M4 and Dell Precision desktop – and must admit, my new MacBook Pro trumps them both, its the single best machine I’ve ever owned, sure there’s a few grips, but I’ll save that for another post.
It is probably noteworthy to point out, I’ve been a long-time supporter of Microsoft tools and technologies, and continue to be. Our organization is vested deeply in Microsoft tools, and support/compatibility is key for us. We own several Macs, in addition to my own, from notebooks to the power G5 – and most dual boot OSX with Vista.
So, like most technophiles I was pretty excited to see the new Apple 3G iPhone finally hit the market. I watched (and read) progress of the first generation iPhone, and like most corporate buyers, I sat on the sideline waiting, as I’ve gotten burned with previous first generation phones (such as HPs iPAQ). This time around though, Apple seems more dedicated to the corporate market, by adding features such as 3G, GPS, bluetooth and exchange support. Oh, and it doesn’t hurt to appeal to mainstream buyers also by reducing the entry price to $199 (with a new 2yr contract.)
While I’m not going to rush out and pick one up on day one, like most, I’ll be watching this phone closely. With mobile software development aspirations, the new iPhone may just be ready to replace my trusty TMobile Dash, which overall I’ve been very happy with.
At this point I only have two issues. The first, I’d prefer to keep TMobile vs. ATT, with the previous iPhone i understand it was rather easy to retro fit iPhones for other GSM carriers, so that was interesting to me. This time around however, as I’ve read in several sources, Apple/ATT aim to hedge the unlocked/iPhone black market by forcing buyers to actually return the iPhone before ATT will cancel their subscription. They clearly don’t want phones floating around not tied to ATT, regarless of the “bricking” technique used last time around.
The other issue to me, which is equally painful, is lack of A2DP aka Bluetooth Stereo. How can Apple even think of doing such a thing? Sure, they’re now offering a mini-headphone jack, but who the heck wants wires these days?? To date, I still do not own a iPod, I’ve been quite happy playing music thru my Dash (wirelessly) and hate the idea of having to carry multiple devices. I guess a final complaint, which I’m not surprised by, would be the lack of support for microSD cards. I guess I understand this one.
So with Windows 6.1 on the horizon and the new Apple 3G iPhone now available, us corporate buyers have some decisions to make.
State of the Emerging CIO 