The hype surrounding the annual latest iPhone release is dangerous turf for entrepreneurs and small business owners, warns an online business guru.
Guy Kingston of Mind Your Own Business ( http://www.myobpod.com ) warns against getting sucked in by the marketing puff, as much of the supposed functionality is both expensive and consumes more time than it saves.
“The marketing people are keen on selling ‘enterprise solutions’ but most business customers will not use their phone for anything more than calls, texts and email,” said Kingston.
“Web browsing would be great if it was usable. But the reality is that pages take forever to load and then drain the battery far too quickly. This is not a practical business solution.
Guy Kingston, who is an iPhone owner himself, cautions entrepreneurs that extra costs make the phone less attractive as a business tool than may at first appear.
“Now you’ll be able to use your iPhone for mobile broadband but that comes at a very hefty additional charge. It seems that every application you want to use comes with an added cost. Users have to pay a high base price anyway, but then to get the phone to do everything you bought it to do requires further very substantial outlays that make it cost prohibitive.”
Kingston also highlights other downsides other than just cost: “When the iPhone was launched I thought it would save me time but in fact you can also spend more time fiddling with it than you save in time using it.”
Maybe large organisations with dedicated IT departments can invest tens of thousands of pounds setting up iPhones and integrating the technology with their systems. But this is beyond the means of nearly every small business.”
“Buying an iPhone will cost you more than money, it will be a needless waste of time too.”
Guy Kingston has a worldwide following for his audio and video podcasts giving advice and information to entrepreneurs.
