madison

iPhone OS4? Get me outta here

By | July 5, 2010, 4:58pm PDT

Summary: Apple OS4 is a mess. If Apple is serious about the enterprise then it needs to address its issue: quickly

There is a good warning expression for those moving from one system to another: wait for the 0.1 release. As far as the iPhone is concerned that should be the minimum.

OS4 is a mess for anyone who uses it in an enterprise environment. It’s Apple’s Vista and then some.

While the buyer stats indicate that Apple is winning market share, that counts for nothing if the product doesn’t deliver. In enterprise land, delivery is everything and at this moment in time, Apple is on the verge of being declared a Twitter #fail.

In my own case….sluggish performance combined with being told that I could not send pics because there was insufficient disk space (duh -  12GB to spare??) was more than enough to get me running back to OS 3.1.3 without bothering to find out why OS4 has an ‘issue.’

As a self declared Mac Fanboi who is happy to see business move to Mac this is beyond a disappointment. It’s a freakin’ disaster.

A number of my clients are using iPhone for all the right reasons, but, when (sort of) forced into a crappy upgrade is this the way that Apple should perform? The other week, Jason Hiner riffed a conversation between Apple and its Wall Street stooges Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher where Steve Jobs is alleged to have said:

“What I love about the consumer market, that I always hated about the enterprise market, is that we come up with a product, we try to tell everybody about it, and every person votes for themselves. They go ‘yes’ or ‘no,’ and if enough of them say ‘yes,’ we get to come to work tomorrow. That’s how it works. It’s really simple. With the enterprise market, it’s not so simple. The people that use the products don’t decide for themselves, and the people that make those decisions sometimes are confused. We love just trying to make the best products in the world for people and having them tell us by how they vote with their wallets whether we’re on track or not.”

Jobs has no clue how the enterprise market works and quite frankly I am surprised that Mossberg/Swisher didn’t call him out on this idiotic understanding. But heh - it’s a a lot easier to riff consumer than it is to understand the enterprise world.

Fact is that Apple products are seeping into the enterprise. Enterprise peeps want to use Mac solutions. They get the benefits of the AppStore. But - treat us enterprisey type like dumb consumers and you’ll soon find out why Microsoft wins most of the time.

In the meantime, I’m back to OS 3.1.3

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Dennis Howlett has been providing comment and analysis on enterprise software since 1991.

Disclosure

Dennis Howlett

Dennis Howlett is committed to maintaining the independent and opinionated stance that his writings are well known for and does not enter into contracts that would limit his freedom of expression in any way. However it is important in the interests of full disclosure to inform readers of those relationships so they can form their own judgment. This page therefore lists all Dennis Howlett’s current business relationships.

Dennis’s consulting arrangements occasionally bring him into direct or indirect business relationships with some of the companies about which he writes, and/or their competitors. Where such a relationship exists, it is disclosed at the end of any article that references the company concerned.

Dennis owns AccMan, an independently produced blog covering the professional services market, primarily focused on Europe. It is currently sponsored by selected TextLink Ads and named sponsors in the ‘Sponsored Content’ block.

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Except as mentioned above, Dennis has no other investments in any tech industry participants. This page last updated 23rd February, 2010.

Biography

Dennis Howlett

Dennis Howlett has been providing comment and analysis on enterprise software since 1991 in a variety of European trade and professional journals including CFO Magazine, The Economist and Information Week. Today, apart from being a full time blogger on innovation for professional services organisations, he is a founding member of Enterprise Irregulars and an investor in a European start-up. Prior to, Dennis was technology and tax partner in a British firm of Chartered Accountants for 10 years. Prior to that held various senior finance roles across a broad range of industries.

Talkback Most Recent of 18 Talkback(s)

  • Sorry Dennis but you are the only one to blame for this one
    You installed iOS4 on your iPhone 3G or 3GS device. The proper way to get iOS4 is to buy an iPhone 4.

    Seriously, why are there so many Apple hating bloggers out there? If you are too cheap to pay Apple for every single hardware release then you don't deserve the privilege of blogging about a company as wonderful as Apple.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    NonZealot
    5th Jul 2010
  • RE: iPhone OS4? Get me outta here
    @NonZealot I'm gonna "assume" you're kidding because your comment can't be serious.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    cj100570@...
    5th Jul 2010
  • ZDNet Gravatar
    P. Douglas
    5th Jul 2010
  • NonZealot was being sarcastic.
    Though it would be illogical to assume that Walt Mossberg would speak out against Apple, as his track record clearly shows that he has never done such a thing to date.

    Though I will admit that Steve Jobs would likely make even a Ferengi proud.
    plain
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Mister Spock
    5th Jul 2010
  • That you have doubts is telling
    @cj100570@...
    That you could mistake my post for one of the dozens of Apple apologists on ZDNet is very telling. You must think those Apple apologists are utter iDiots. You would be right to think that though. happy
    ZDNet Gravatar
    NonZealot
    6th Jul 2010
  • ZDNet Blogger

    RE: iPhone OS4? Get me outta here
    @NonZealot -what utter nonsense. Did you read what was said? I am NOT an Apple hating blogger - I'm a a Fanboi but I am darned if I'll put up up with a 2nd rate service when pitched to my enterprise clients.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    dahowlett
    5th Jul 2010
  • RE: iPhone OS4? Get me outta here
    @dahowlett
    Relax, This is NonZealot. He used to bash Apple's stuff in every post that have the word "Apple" in it. Now he bought an iPhone 4 so he's gonna bash everything not "Apple", and in very ridiculously entertaining way. Its really kinda of fun to me to read his nonsense and amusing comments
    ZDNet Gravatar
    NaderBelaid
    5th Jul 2010
  • You ARE an Apple hating blogger
    @dahowlett
    According to Apple zealots, anyone who doesn't post 110% glowing praise for Apple and its products is an Apple hating blogger. Don't worry, in the eyes of the rational, being called an Apple hating blogger is actually a compliment. It means you can actually think rationally and don't have an emotional attachment to a multi-national, multi-billion $$$/year mega-corporation. happy
    ZDNet Gravatar
    NonZealot
    6th Jul 2010
  • RE: iPhone OS4? Get me outta here
    @NonZealot
    Why not iOS4 installed to my 3G?
    I'm actually looking forward to iOS 4 for my iPhone 3g. Even though there still isn't much for the 3g with this update, I'm really excited about the folders you can create with it as I feel it will save so much room and time for my iPhone. Bring on summer!!!

    iOS 4: Top 9 New Features to Expect
    http://www.aneesoft.com/tutorials/iphone/iphone-os-4-new-features.html
    ZDNet Gravatar
    zaraly
    5th Jul 2010
  • RE: iPhone OS4? Get me outta here
    @zaraly
    Folders on the iPhone 3G is a great improvement. The update process is very long and involves two restarts of the phone which is a pain as I have to put in my code each time (hence you have to be there).

    But I have not noticed any slowdown, or dropped calls, so I call it a positive for the folders alone. It is also more secure as there were security updates which have not been done in 3.13.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    jorjitop
    6th Jul 2010
  • RE: iPhone OS4? Get me outta here
    I owned a Samsung Galaxy S and iPhone 3Gs. The iOS4 works great in my 3Gs while the Samsung Galaxy S with 1GHz processor and Android 2.1 seems slow with frequent glitches. Sumsung just contacted me to bring the phone back to their service center for a firmware upgrade..
    ZDNet Gravatar
    kelvin8048
    5th Jul 2010
  • RE: iPhone OS4? Get me outta here
    Why can't apple fanboys accept that someone has a problem with an Apple product without trying to figure out "why"?

    I think that its time to face the unpleasant fact that Apple is having some pretty serious problems of late. ios4 performance on 3G handsets, iPhone4 reception, iPad wifi, etc...

    Nodody's perfect.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    tricktytom
    5th Jul 2010
  • iOS4 on 3G
    iOS4 doesn't run well on a 3G iPhone. It's too slow. I've got an iPhone4 on order so it is not a big deal. I can live with it for a few weeks. But I won't be installing it on the other iPhone 3G in the house.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    J-Hermes
    5th Jul 2010
  • Dumb question, Dennis
    I realize you no doubt know what you're doing, but I'll go ahead and ask anyway: Did you do a complete power cycle after you did the iOS4 install? I had a lot of slowness and flakiness on my 3G until I cycled power (and I mean a complete power down, not a restart). Everything now works well. It might be worth a try.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Userama
    5th Jul 2010
  • ZDNet Blogger

    RE: iPhone OS4? Get me outta here
    @Userama - I wasn't so worried about performance. After all, I have to reboot my BB x2 a day so...I was concerned about functionality. In any event yes - I had done a complete power recycle PLUS - and just in case - I also did a restore. To no avail.

    Like most enterprisey peeps - I have no patience for this kind of thing and am not prepared to be Apple's (or anyone else's) beta tester
    ZDNet Gravatar
    dahowlett
    6th Jul 2010

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