If the testing goes well, the iPhone could be soon replacing the BlackBerry as the smartphone of choice for members of the US Congress. This would of course mean very good news for Apple, but at the same time it would only deal another blow to RIM.
The switch over is not being taken lightly, currently the Chief Administrative Office (CAO) is performing some tests to determine just how well the iPhone will perform in real world use. The testing is reported to have begun with just “a small number of iPhones.”
Currently the House has about 8,200 BlackBerry handsets in use, all of which depend on the BlackBerry Enterprise Server for email delivery. Of course if the iPhone does move in they will need to set up a new server that will handle email delivery.
Assuming the iPhone performs well enough, it could begin to be offered as early as January 2009. It does however seem that current BlackBerry users will not be forced to give up their CrackBerry just yet, it was mentioned that lawmakers will be able to choose between handsets, and that if they choose the iPhone they will have to pay for it out of their Member’s Representational Allowance.
It is nice to see the iPhone at least potentially moving into a more professional setting, and this could replace quite a few BlackBerry devices, but all things considered, I am not really sure how many will actually switch over. I think most non-geeks are generally happy with what they have and they are not always as willing to switch when everything is already working good.
[The Hill]
October 23rd, 2008 at 3:31 pm
Well if the iphone is better they should, i would.
October 24th, 2008 at 11:23 am
Don’t get me wrong, I love my iPhone, but in professional applications the Crackberry is still number one. I don’t see the US Congress switching over anytime soon.