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Today I thought that I'd be writing this as my turn in the "Ryan Block is a Nimrod" line. But just when I'm about to get going, the Wall Street Journal steps in with some prime stupid of its own, so alas, I shall have to leave Ryan to the tender ministrations of my brother from another mother, The Angry Drunk. This will leave both hands free to commence to slapping Ben Worthen about the head and shoulders.

Of course, Ben has to write the "It's not really that cool" article. Okay, fine, but he can't be arsed to really think about what he's saying. Of course, in this era of Scobleian ethics, doing any actual research is secondary to being first. Here, read the first line of crap:

1. Right now, the business iPhone only works with Microsoft’s Exchange email program. Exchange is the market leader, so if Apple was going to pick one program to work with, it made the right pick. But businesses that use IBM’s Lotus Notes email or GroupWise from Novell are out of luck for the time being.

If you are completely ignorant of ActiveSync, this is still wrong. So let's spell it out. Apple is supporting Microsoft ActiveSync. Contrary to what Ben thinks, ActiveSync is not an Exchange-only toy. It also works with Communigate Pro, Kerio Mail Server, and Zimbra. (Lotus Notes EasySync Pro appears to only work with the desktop version of ActiveSync, but I have yet to find a definitive yes/no answer on this. If anyone knows someone at IBM I can talk to, please let me know.) However, there's nothing that's keeping IBM from extending Notes to the iPhone, because they can use the SDK. Seriously Ben, you know that ActiveSync is not Exchange only, and if you didn't, then why didn't you verify this minor fact first? Right, gotta be first.

2. Apple doesn’t have a plan in place for letting businesses load custom-developed software onto workers’ iPhones. Commercial software will get sold through Apple’s new apps store. But businesses won’t want to make software they’ve developed themselves available that way. Apple knows this is a shortcoming, but the company doesn’t have a solution yet. This is symbolic of the greater issue facing Apple as it tries to woo businesses: Apple wants tight control over software for the device, but it needs to loosen the reins a little to satisfy businesses. We’re not sure how Apple will walk this line.

Update: During the event today Apple execs said they’re working on a way to let businesses release software only to employees. A press release elaborates on that plan. “Enterprise customers will be able to create a secure, private page on the App Store accessible only by their employees,” it says. Our guess is that this satisfies some tech departments and not others.

At least he sort of corrects this in the end. But again, why not wait until oh, you have some facts before you write the story? As well...will satisfy some tech departments and not others? Holy crap dude, were you a weatherman in a previous life? Congratulations, you just described everything, 'cause nothing satisfies all tech departments equally. You write for the Wall Street Journal, you have a higher standard than this tripe.

3. Businesses that have invested heavily in equipment to support Research In Motion’s BlackBerrys may resist the iPhone. Apple was upfront about the fact that it’s going after BlackBerry: Apple CEO Steve Jobs started the day by comparing the iPhone’s market share to the BlackBerry’s; he made repeated reference to recent problems with RIM’s service; and he said that the iPhone would be easier to manage than the BlackBerry. But that ease of management may not be enough to convince some businesses to set aside BlackBerry equipment they’ve already bought.

Really! You mean to say, and let me make sure I understand, that businesses who have invested heavily in a Blackberry solution aren't going to junk all that just for the iPhone? The hell you say! Next you'll be telling me that companies who have spent the money on mainframes aren't going to junk those for the iPhone either!

Danger Will Robinson, blinding flash of the obvious coming through!

Finally, this one:

4. The iPhone still only runs on AT&T’s network, and some businesses may not feel comfortable relying on only one carrier.

Nonsense. The reasons for multiple carriers are things like geographic coverage, et al. Going with a single carrier gets you some pretty hefty price breaks, so companies tend to prefer a single carrier, it makes managing your wireless setup far easier. Really.

Are we sure Ben writes for the real WSJ, and not the version my neighbor Clem prints up when he gets into his dog's chemo drugs?

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Comments

So let me get this straight, the beef used to be "No Exchange OMG!" Now it's "Only Exchange OMG!"

Le Sigh.

Posted by: Phuul | March 7, 2008 2:16 PM

Hello,

When Apple mentioned that they are licensing Microsoft's ActiveSync technology, a couple of questions came to mind:

1) Who ported ActiveSync to Mac OS X (or to the iPhone OS)? Did the Microsoft Mac BU do the port? Did Apple? Since Apple wants to control the whole iPhone experience, I'm guessing that they did the port themselves, but I would be surprsied if Microsoft actually revealed the source code as part of the licensing agreement.

2) Does the licensing agreement only apply to the iPhone, or will we see an upgrade to Mail.app on Macs that will add Exchange connectivity?

Posted by: Grantwood | March 7, 2008 4:00 PM

First it was : "Wah, wah, no third-party apps."

Then when an SDK was coming: "They'll make you pay an arm and a leg for it." "It won't be very good." "They won't let any really good apps get through."

And always: "Whine, whine, bitch: no good for business!"

So, Apple releases the SDK, gives everybody all they said they wanted and more, and, in a more or less complete surprise, announces all this business-related crap (yawn.) But, it's still no good.

Doesn't it seem like the bitching is getting more shrill and desperate all the time?

Posted by: Gatesbasher | March 7, 2008 4:49 PM

Well their are some issues with the SDK. My first problem is that its a BETA SDK. No Interface Builder? UH ok. I can't get a 2.0 firmware beta because the initial seed for the paid version is limited? Well I can see that I guess but hang on, you could have mentioned that earlier. Don't get me wrong I'm playing around with the SDK, I'm just grumbling about the beta thing. So technically the SDK moved from February to March to whenever Apple lets more people into the "iPhone Dev Treehouse".

Posted by: Phuul | March 9, 2008 4:37 PM

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