Chris Pirillo on the iPhone vs. Windows Mobile for Business Use

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://chris.pirillo.com/2007/10/30/iphone-vs-windows-mobile-pocket-pc-for-business/' target='_blank'>http://chris.pirillo.com/2007/10/30/iphone-vs-windows-mobile-pocket-pc-for-business/</a><br /><br /></div><em>&quot;I was a Windows Mobile device user for about seven years. I was against the iPhone at first, thinking my Windows device suited my needs just fine. Then Ponzi bought me the iPhone. MajorDef wrote in to ask which is better for business&hellip; a Windows Mobile device, or an iPhone? I am a product tester for Sprint, and recently got my hands on their new HTC Touch mobile device. It&rsquo;s not a bad device. It&rsquo;s very small and lightweight. It does everything I need it to do. But it just doesn&rsquo;t compare to my iPhone. I get frustrated trying to push a button that doesn&rsquo;t work on these Windows devices. After playing with this Sprint HTC Touch for about five minutes, I literally shook my head and said out loud &ldquo;How did I ever DO this?&rdquo;. Keep in mind that for seven years, I was perfectly happy with my Windows devices. Enter my iPhone. It&rsquo;s not just an amazing media device, it&rsquo;s a joy to use. It&rsquo;s smooth, it&rsquo;s functional, it works the way I never thought it could work. It syncs perfectly with my Outlook, which is where I primarily live with my work. It can share my contacts, calenders and tasks. I can connect it to Exchange. It&rsquo;s just magic. Is it perfect? Hardly. But, it&rsquo;s the closest to perfect that any mobile device has ever come.&quot;</em><br /><embed width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Gn5zldAc6sE"></embed> <br /><br />This is from last week, but I thought it was worth sharing - on a dedicated Windows Mobile site like this one, you might consider this flame bait, but I'm hoping we can have some intelligent discussion on what Chris is saying. As a long-time Windows Mobile user, I think Chris' criticism of the platform has significant merit - he's not just some random user that picked up a Windows Mobile phone for five minutes and said he didn't like it. He's used it for years, is aware of the good and bad, and finally decided he couldn't put up with it any more. That's significant. What the video and post your thoughts - is Chris right? <br /><br />From my perspective, I've only had about five minutes of hands-on time with an iPhone so I'm not the best person to compare the two. But in my hands on time with the product, it's impossible to deny the beauty and fluidity of the product. Apple did a great job with the design. But look deeper from a business user's perspective: can you process a significant amount of email with no physical keyboard? I know I can't - I absolutely need a keyboard. Can you use it as a business tool without third party applications? No, browser-based widgets are not applications. Perhaps some people can, but I know many of you rely on powerful third party software to get more done. And what about the whole Exchange issue? Chris' comments about how great Outlook/Exchange works with his iPhone were news to me - he didn't really go into details, but mentioned Plaxo. I know some people who won't use Plaxo because it's such a potential privacy nightmare. That's my brief take on the subject - what's yours?

[mbranscum]

You know, I don't know this guy and I really have no opinion of the iphone good or bad, but I couldn't help but think I was watching a fundraiser on the Trinity Broadcasting Network from someone who had just had a salvation experience! :)

Seriously, as a user of a PPC since 2000, (I still use one in my daily business to input data), and the owner of NUMEROUS PPC's, PPC phones and MS Smartphones, I have to agree that Microsoft has a long way to go with their products.

I recently went to a Blackberry Curve with GPS. The ease of use of a BB over a MS product is not even close IMO.

I still buy MS smartphones and want to like them! I just bought a Q9h and returned it the next day. I really feel like Apple and RIM are gonna give Microsoft some major grief over the next few years.

MS is capable of putting out a better product and they had better get off their duffs and do it.

My opinion! ;)

[ajwalker]

I left a message in his original post saying I don't think he ever answered the question. I still don't. The question was, which one is better for business, not which one lets you listen to MP3s easier.

He offered nothing but his personal opinion about how great his iPhone is as a PMP/phone that also lets him check his Exchange server. At least that's what I got out of it.

But Chris has been skewing Apple for some time to come so it doesn't surprise me that he would continue.

Bottom line, he no longer thinks Windows products work for him, be it Vista or Window Mobile. Okay. I don't think Apple products work for me after trying them for more than five minutes but I would give a more reasoned summation if someone asked me to compare the phone OSs besides how great it is to browse the web, look at photo and play music.

[jenya]

The iPhone has the best UI by far, but it does not compete with Windows Mobile. The phone comes with like four real applications, and the rest are all web apps. I remember going to the Apple store the weekend it was released, and after ten minutes of tinkering with it, I got bored. RIM provides great devices for email, but that's it. Going beyond email on a Blackberry is easier said than done. Both do have great battery life though...

Now Windows Mobile may still be like Windows 3.x in terms of UI and memory management, but you can do everything on it. I hardly ever carry a laptop to meetings anymore unless I need to present something. Granted the battery life is pretty bad on most WM devices, and you need to charge on a daily basis but it's a fair sacrifice for the added capability.

Let's think of all of the practical uses an iPhone provides:
1. Browsing full webpages [which sucks if you are not on WiFi]
2. Checking your IMAP or POP email - which does not compare to having a push email client like on a BB or WM device
3. iPod - BB and WM both offer a media player, how ever BB's are still lacking on this one
4. 4 - 8 gb of device storage only useable for Audio or Video - Mini and MicroSD cards are now up to 6gb in size which can be used to store anything you want
5. Utilizing the web apps like Youtube, Weather, Stocks - Yahoo Go provides the same features on a WM device

You can do all of that on a Windows Mobile Device as well as:
1. Remote server management and access to corporate intranet sites if needbe
2. Access to thousands of third party apps
3. Superior device security and encryption of data (iPhone doesnt even offer this)
4. Qwerty keyboard (on most devices)
5. Ability to view and edit all office file types
6. Full real time syncing of your PIM applications (i.e. Email, Calendar, Contacts, Notes, Tasks)

I know this sounds very anti-iPhone, and don't get me wrong, I hope Apple will expand on what they have created and open it up for third party development as well as a qwerty keyboard. Like I said above, the UI is unbelievable and nothing can compete with it today. That being said, the Q9h I carry is the best device I have ever owned, and I really would not be able to survive without it these days...

You know, I don't know this guy and I really have no opinion of the iphone good or bad, but I couldn't help but think I was watching a fundraiser on the Trinity Broadcasting Network from someone who had just had a salvation experience! :)

Seriously, as a user of a PPC since 2000, (I still use one in my daily business to input data), and the owner of NUMEROUS PPC's, PPC phones and MS Smartphones, I have to agree that Microsoft has a long way to go with their products.

I recently went to a Blackberry Curve with GPS. The ease of use of a BB over a MS product is not even close IMO.

I still buy MS smartphones and want to like them! I just bought a Q9h and returned it the next day. I really feel like Apple and RIM are gonna give Microsoft some major grief over the next few years.

MS is capable of putting out a better product and they had better get off their duffs and do it.

My opinion! ;)

[Macguy59]

I can relate with Chris. I've used many WM powered devices since 2000. Contrary to Jason I find my speed on the keyboard display to be the same as the Motorola Q I used but I have always been a one finger typist on these devices. With the iPhone I find I make fewer errors the faster I type (peck). There must be a paradoxal name for this :p The display is the best I've used hands down and the UI is very slick. Built-in Wi-Fi is a big plus as is being able to browse/buy from the iTunes store on it. Video plays extremely well on it. To be honest I'm surprised at how much less I use my laptop at home now. Something that didn't happen with the Q. It has it's flaws though. No notes syncing, no mass email deletion, no MMS and ringtones are at a ridiculous premium (unless you jailbreak it). A true software SDK is going to be released soon so you'll see a flood of new apps for it. Warts and all it's still the best smartphone I've used to date.

[dwhitney]

Although I don't agree with everything he said, you CAN count me in the same general group of folks that have used WM phones for years (and PPCs before that going back to late 90's) -possibly even to the point of being a WM bigot - who has now tried and iphone for a couple of weeks and has no plan on looking back now to a WM device. Yes - I still frequent sites like this one to keep tabs on what is happening in the WM space but I am SHOCKED at how much I like the iphone now.

I didn't buy the iphone... a friend won it at a show - didn't want to pay for the monthly service - and gave it to me for helping him out with his home technology challenges.

I thought I would try it for a couple of days and end up back on my then current wm device - HTC S630- but WOW. I was shocked.

I was worried about the usual things that Jason points out in his post - no physical keyboard being the largest concern - along with no push email, lack of true 3rd party apps, no idea that you could actually get exchange email on the device (but you can via imap) etc.

However now that I've discovered I can get my corp email and sync my outlook data and more importantly as another user posted that I can actually type as fast - if not faster -on the screen based keyboard (who would have thunk it!!!????) than I could on any of my hardware based keyboards after just a week of use, I am totally and completely in love.

The web surfing via wifi is to die for.

I've long been an ultraportable laptop user (currently have the sony tz90) that takes his laptop with him everywhere and spends hours per evening on it at home each night. Not any more. Laptop usually stays at the office now. Only the iphone goes with me. I maybe use my laptop a couple hours a week at most outside the office now.

I really valued (so I thought...) real time push email but I can honestly say that I don't miss it at all (which also really shocks me). Being able to get automatic every 5 minute updates (or on demand) has been more than adequate (again... I thought going into this it would really bother me but hasn't...).

Any shortcomings the iphone has are FAR outweighed by its advantages.

Now if they would just get one with 3G access, at least 30-40GB storage, and an OTA exchange sync (vs tethered to desktop) solution which is rumored to be coming, I would consider it as close to perfect a device as I have ever even dreamed of. It really has turned out to be that good.

However, I won't say that I will never go back to WM. WM works well and was a fabulous solution for me up until I tried the iphone and had I not tried the iphone, I wouldn't be complaining at all about WM devices. But I did try an iphone and the rest is history...

[Macguy59]

I really valued (so I thought...) real time push email but I can honestly say that I don't miss it at all (which also really shocks me). Being able to get automatic every 5 minute updates (or on demand) has been more than adequate (again... I thought going into this it would really bother me but hasn't...).


Hmmm on my iPhone the shortest interval is 15 minutes ;)

[djdj]

The iPhone is missing one absolutely critical element that prevents me from even considering one... using the device as a modem for a laptop. I absolutely need data access from a real computer, and AT&T is preventing Apple from allowing the iPhone to share its data with another device. That's a total showstopper for me.

For what the iPhone does, it is a nice device. It's just too limited in what it can do for me.

[Cattle-Dog]

As a senior engineer and consultant to several fortune 500 companies, I can tell you without a doubt in my mind, the iPhone would never even be considered. As a matter of fact, the security policies at most places would forbid them. They do not support certificate based encryption for OTA syncing and they have no remote management or policies available.

That said, I am a firm believer in PocketPC phones and Smartphones are very dated. We are on what, the third generation of phone devices and sixth for WinCE overall? Yet memory management (as has been stated), task management, and user interface are all only what should have been a dot release from their first iterations!

Microsoft tends not to move much, until some one forces their hand. Hopefully with some strong competition we'll see some exciting products in Windows Mobile 6.1... errr I mean 7!

[Stinger]

I wish Microsoft, the handset manufacturers, carriers and MVPs/bloggers would stop seeing Winows Mobile as purely a business thing. Windows Mobile could be so much more if everyone stopped being so narrow minded.

[gmontielh]

I also have been a WM user. I tried BB for one day but not having BB Exchange decided to go back to WM. Up to my BJ, I owned 6 EM devices. And I must say I loved the BJ. Good form and performance. But using the iPhone I must say it's the best device I have used so far (hey technology is always improving...). It integrates very well into my corporate email using Exchange, and syncs my contacts and now my calendar with the latest update. I agree: it's not perfect. I wish for OTA sync and use of independent 3rd party/Apple stand alone apps (coming after Feb08) such AReader, Excel, Word, PP and probably an iPhone version of Pocket Informant. More than enough at least for me. But so far on balance using the iPhone as corporate work tool is very positive.

And when colleagues ask me to set up their WM devices I wonder how I managed before. Can't help touching the screens with my fingers... I hope WM catches up or we will see more Apple "copy-cats" - with all due respect to the latter.

[Mark Larson]

I wish Microsoft, the handset manufacturers, carriers and MVPs/bloggers would stop seeing Winows Mobile as purely a business thing. Windows Mobile could be so much more if everyone stopped being so narrow minded.

This is exactly my point as well. There are VERY FEW people who are assigned phones from their work, and even fewer are the IT personnel who are assigned WM phones, because most salesfolks and execs are assigned Blackberrys instead. But people harp on about certificates this and lock-down that, enterprise this and Exchange that.

MS has stagnated the OS even before it was ready, takes features out with every release and their developers have their hands full explaining the stupidity on the MSDN blog.

I bought a Smartphone in 2003 because it was one of the only one phones with a large screen that could play videos and music. Now, its one of thousands of phones with that same size screen and no new capabilities. I got rid of mine and would be willing to try out another in a the future, but not now.

[ajwalker]

I wish Microsoft, the handset manufacturers, carriers and MVPs/bloggers would stop seeing Winows Mobile as purely a business thing. Windows Mobile could be so much more if everyone stopped being so narrow minded.

Windows Mobile already is so much more. But you are right Stinger, because Microsoft's bread and butter is enterprise, even when they do make changes to the UI like with the Shadow, it is overlooked or dismissed. I suspect there will be more changes like that for Windows Mobile.

Nobody wants to give Windows Mobile credit when credit is due. Could they do better? Sure, everything could be done better.

I don't mind having to use the menu to access features in Windows Mobile. I like being able to tweak to my heart's content. But to say because you have to do these things the OS is somehow inferior to everything else is plain stupid.

If you don't like doing those things, then chose another mobile OS. But don't put Windows Mobile down as somehow inferior because you have to do those things. It's just not for you, no harm, no foul.

[Pete Paxton]

Here's an interesting article:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071108/ap_on_hi_te/tech_test_smart_phones_2

[webrun]

The iphone is on the pokey Edge network. I'm not interested in a phone that is on anything less than a 3G network. And as someone mentioned, it can't be used to tether a laptop to the web. Those are two deal killers that for me, keep me from even considering the iphone, nice UI or not.

[Mark Larson]

I don't mind having to use the menu to access features in Windows Mobile. I like being able to tweak to my heart's content. But to say because you have to do these things the OS is somehow inferior to everything else is plain stupid.


Uh, no its not stupid, and you're raising a strawman argument - he isn't even talking about using the menu, why are you bringing up "Oh I don't mind having to use the menu blah blah blah" what is that even related to?

[Hyer]

This article on the iPhone has peaked my curiosity, but I have a couple of concerns that I can't get straight.
1. Will the iPhone sync contacts and calender over the air like my Vox (this would be a killer, I haven't pluged my Vox into my laptop in 6 months, why bother)?
2. Will it sync email with exchange (I'm not to concerned about Push, I've actually turned it off because it locks up a couple times a week and kills the battery). Every 15 minutes is plenty for me, but I need it to sync, I hate deleting an email from my phone and then having to do it again on the computer. Will IMAP accomplish that?

I'm not a big media user, but I surf the net on my phone all the time while at kids practices and the like, so that is interesting to me.

[dstrauss]

I have found Chris to be a good source of information, though quirky, so I take his reviews seriously. The iPhone screen, web, and iTunes expereince is to die for, but it is the rest of the device that will actually kill you. My exeprience (however brief with the iPhone - 4 days) was no where near the same as Chris. First, it does not support Exchange Activesync, so no push email. Fine, but I had our support company work the whole four days to find a wasy to SECURELY open our exchange server to IMAP for iPhone - no luck. Top that off with the failure to physically sync calendar and contacts correctly from a Vista Business Version notebook, and I was going nuts. I ran back to my Blackjack before day four was up.

Jump forward a few months; I've been introduced to the Blackberry Curve 8310 and BES - what a joy from a business perspective. Flawless syncing of email, calendar, contacts, tasks and NOTES (wake up there M$oft). Granted, text based messaging and interface (kind of a throwback); but even lighter and shorter than the iPhone, and battery life beyond any Treo, WM or iPhone (three day weekends are a reality). I've used Palm (from PalmPilot 512 to Treo 270, 600, 650), WM (back when it was Wince folding mini-notebooks; Everex, Toshiba, HP, then converged devices Samsung i500; Cingular 2125, 3125, 8125, Tilt), and dabbled with iPhone - the Curve has them all beat for simplicity, practicality and user experience.

I will not try to defend the web or multimedia experienc against an iPhone - it cannot be done. But I just don't believe teh iPhone is ready for prime time business use. I would, however, KILL for that screen on a business class device...are you listening Mr. Jobs?

[Mike Temporale]

"Business" is a pretty wide open term. I've been talking with many business' that are buying 1,000+ rugged mobile devices for their drivers, warehouse staff, production facilities, etc... These are all running WinMo, WinCE, or XP Embedded. There's no hope that these guys are going to buy a iphone as they need the extensibility and RAD that comes with the Windows based devices. Out of all the companies I've been talking with, only a small number are buying WinMo devices for the sales and office staff. The companies that are buying phones for office staff want to be able to encrypt and lock them down in case they go missing.

I'm only saying this because I think the whole argument of iPhone vs WinMo for business isn't as clear as everyone thinks. The average user, like you and me, may say that we want x or y, but the reality is if it doesn't do what the company is looking for, our thoughts don't come into play.

The iphone is limited to the consumer market. While some individuals might buy an iphone and use it in their day to day work. There are very few companies that are switching over to apple's device. And like it or not, the consumer market is small in comparison to the amount of devices sold in the enterprise. Microsoft, right or wrong, has put a lot of work into chasing the enterprise and they've done a great job. Hopefully the added pressure on the consumer side will help them focus efforts on that front again.

[webrun]

The third reason (reasons 1 and 2: no 3G & can't tether) I won't be purchasing an iphone anytime soon is the lack of GPS. Now that some smartphones have GPS, that is another feature requirement for my next upgrade.

There is at least one series of Blackberries, the 8800 series I believe, that have GPS, and of course, the AT&T Tilt, and the rumored soon to come Treo 800w is alleged to have GPS. It is obvious that more and more smartphones/PDA phones will be adding GPS in upcoming models.