Confessions of a SharePoint iPhone user

Posted on January 21, 2009 by Joel Oleson

Ok. My readers know that I’m a big Microsoft junkie, so why would I ever consider an iPhone? Beyond the cool factor, and all that it is extremely useful and really has met my needs better than my previous Windows Mobile device. In the PC vs. MAC wars, (Man isn’t that good times!) I am clearly on the PC side of the equation and have fought that battle many times.

I am not alone. I hate to come out like this, but I think it will pay off as we’ll get *REAL* SharePoint apps on iPhone.

10 Reasons why it’s ok to show your iPhone in a SharePoint Crowd

We as SharePoint folks are part of office family and we make Office for MAC. (MAC business unit people make money for MS, so it’s justified.)
Microsoft makes apps for the iPhone. Look at the maker of the new Live Tag App on an iPhone.
SharePoint support for Safari is important, so we’re just helping the cross browser story (and hey as bad as safari is, it’s been a lot better viewing than what we’ve had in our windows mobile IEs.)
Dustin, AC, and all those MVPs bought the Macbooks when they were better hardware. They were justified. The ratings in Vista were amazing. Same justification and line of thinking. You use what makes you productive.
The more public we are about it, the more likely people will build an app store apps for it – right Stacy Draper? (SharePoint Dev MVP) (If you need ideas or community around SharePoint apps on iPhone there is SERIOUS momentum building.)
The MVPs are doing it. I would wager a paycheck that more than 50% of the *cool* MVPs have iPhones, the ones you love and trust. (In contrast to the anal ones- this is a joke LOL (not a reference to you Shane!))
It’s more social! With serious social integration like Facebook apps, GPS, pictures, twitterfon/twitteriffic, linkedin, Digsby, IM, (Best mobile app platform by internet YEARS) it’s so easy to share and be IN.
It supports Exchange for e-mail! LOVE IT! Best email client for mobile (wish I had search, wish I had send and forward invites, wish I had new meeting request, wish I had copy/paste)
The rumor about Ballmer smashing an iPhone is false. (Well, maybe it is :))
Microsoft staff use it. I won’t name names (I know you appreciate that). Look at people who are in the know, just look around. They’ve stopped hiding it. Let’s put our religious war aside and realize where we are with Mobile devices (a different war that has some major catching up required). We’ll let MS catch up and re-evaluate after our contract is up. (MS has done really well on getting a significant foot print don’t get me wrong.

Have you seen the new iPhone SharePoint Backgrounds? Great stuff!

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Hey mobile guys… Next time when you’re next door doing your T-Shirt Cannon, you’ll know don’t mess with the SharePoint guys. Keep it down, so we can figure out our deployment issues.

Feel free to bash me and tell me how horrible I am for being honest.