In the words of Lev Grossman of Time Magazine:

"The thing is hard to type on. It's too slow. It's too big. It doesn't have instant messaging. It's too expensive. (Or, no, wait, it's too cheap!) It doesn't support my work e-mail. It's locked to AT&T. Steve Jobs secretly hates puppies. And--all together now--we're sick of hearing about it!" 

But Mr. Grossman continues to tout the iPhone as 2007's "Invention of the Year". We think he should have stopped after that first paragraph's proclamations.

Hyperion Systems Solutions, LLC ("Hyperion") is not anti-Apple. We maintain and support Macintosh systems and know there is a place for Apple products in the marketplace. We must, however, draw the line at the iPhone.

It is neither functional, nor a major leap ahead in mobile platform delivery as Grossman proclaims. Apple has been very successful at bringing an iconic presence to the world of technology and the iPhone is just another gadget that gives consumers that feeling of being cool and different. It will not revolutionize the way the world uses mobile devices, nor has it brought "real"content to the world of handhelds like they would have you believe. Google Maps has been available for Java-based and Windows Mobile based devices since late 2006, a full year before the iPhone hit the market. YouTube launched it's mobile service prior to the iPhone's availability and is viewable on any platform that supports streaming of 3GP video; again, nothing exclusive here.

But the 2 mortal blows to the iPhone as "Invention of the Year" are (1) it's relegation to AT&T's Edge data network, arguably the worst player in the mobile broadband market both with speed and availability, and (2) it's inability to play nice with corporate networks. Mobile devices are a necessity of the business world and aside from glorified "texters" needing QWERTY keyboards, they rarely spill over to the retail market as personal devices. By locking out third party development capable of handling corporate connectivity, Apple alienated their largest client-base, resulting in nearly 18% of the devices sold never having been activated (source: FOXNews.com).

Aside from being pretty and getting fingerprints all over the display, the iPhone is a far cry from 2007's "Invention of the Year". Hyperion is casting it's vote for the Sprint Mogul by HTC.

Contact Hyperion today for a consultation on mobility solutions that fit your business needs and deliver enhanced productivity to an increasingly mobile workforce.