The iPhone In Highschool & College vs. Business
October 17, 2008 by Ryan Ray
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First, let me ask a question. Do you think the iPhone is more of a “business” phone, or is it more of a “consumer” phone? For instance would you expect to see more Highschool & College students carrying one around or more suits from the office carrying one in their breast pocket? I know when the iPhone was first released it had no business implications at all really. The things that Blackberry users expect from their phones was not available to them if they wanted to switch to the iPhone. They had no Exchange support for many many corporations use Exchange as their email servers. There was no PUSH support where they could easily have everything like email, calendar, contacts immediately available to them.
Obviously no company that relied on these techonologies would switch to the iPhone. Now though, we’ve got the 2.0 software. The 2.0 software update was huge. This software update brought to use Exchange support, it brought the push support, it brought everything the big wigs needed to start adopting the iPhone as a real business tool. Instead of some hip tech toy that many people use it as. To me personally I see the iPhone as a boundry crossing device, I use my iPhone for both business and pleasure. But definitely I can see where the iPhone is not taken seriously in either business or consumer worlds. I roughly try and keep up with two jobs, 17 hour schedule, Ultimate Frisbee, drum practice, etc… and the iPhone crosses over beautifully through any environment I need it for. Keeps all 5 of my email accounts in order, keeps my calendars all straightened out. It really is quite beautiful to see it happen. Also when I’m tired of meetings I just flip over a few home screens and start playing something like Tris, or Hangman haha.
The point I may be trying to make is that the iPhone really is an all-in-one device. The funny thing is that I see the older generations carrying around a blackberry and then a RAZR or something similar to that setup because neither of their phones cover all bases. Especially those super annoying head pieces. For one I think they are ugly, and then you see people talking on them thinking they are talking to themselves. Also another thing I hate about cellphones are the waist holsters, GAG ME. Then I see students and people from my generation or younger and we all have iPhones if we are serious about our phones. It’s really funny to observe these difference. Although one of my professors has the iPhone 3G and carrys it in a holster!!! I must say I believe my iPhone covers all of those bases. But you give me your thoughts. Is the iPhone for us trendy college students, or is it a serious Blackberry competitor? What about both? Tell me where you think the iPhone fits in.
Just for fun, here are some quick iPhone stats that come from Piper Jaffray. They surveyed some high school students about the iPhone and where they got the music. It still points out that the iPhone is wanted no matter what generation. Thanks guys!
- 8% own iPhones, up from from 6% in Spring 2008.
- 22% of students surveyed expect to buy an iPhone in the next 6 months, up from 9% in Spring 2008.
- Of students expecting to buy a mobile phone, 33% specified an iPhone.
- iPod market share rose to 84% from 82% in Fall 2007.
- Of the 40% of students who legally purchase music online, 93% said they use iTunes (up from 79% in Fall 2007).
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