CommerceCubes

iPhone, the great disconnect and You

I haven’t written much on CommerceCubes in the last few days with the stresses of starting a course and working this site hit the backburner for a little while but I am getting into the flow of writing again. Also all the holiday fanfare subsided finally so I can get back to focusing on writing

Apple seems to continue to surprise the world with its technological offers and the latest of which is iPhone. From a business perspective the iPhone makes good sense because it’s small and light and you can pretty much do anything you need and stay connected to the heart of your business. From a personal point of view the iPhone is just cool and the “cool” factor seems to sell big time. The phone itself has some interesting price points $499 for the 4 GB model and $599 for the 8 GB Model.

So what does this mean for business owners and entrepreneurs alike as well as people in general? As the mobile phone becomes a greater part of our culture and way of life it has allowed business to evolve. A primary reason that most start a business is to be able to step away from the trappings of an office more and more so it makes complete sense that the mobile phone and all things mobile will become the new tools for the job. The downside that I see with this is a greater disconnect from the population as a whole and also depending on how you make use of technology it can either empower or trap you. Does your technology own you? Here is a little survey to see if you qualify…

1. Do you take business calls during dinner or at other inappropriate times of the day?

2. Do you take your laptop everywhere regardless of how big or small it is because you are afraid that you’ll miss something by not having it with you?

3. If technology were to drop off the face of the earth tomorrow could your business or you survive? Most businesses couldn’t but I think people in general would but it would be tough not being able to vote and watch your next America’s Idol gets crowned or watching who got kicked off the island.

4. Could you get a date without going to a dating site, posting your profile and hoping someone messages you? (That is fairly normal, of course )

5. Can you sit down without thinking of checking your email? How many times a day do you check your email?

At what point does technology such as the blackberry or iPhone become a bad thing for business and life in general? While I think that the iPhone is indeed a very cool piece of technology I probably wouldn’t buy it, but that’s just me. What about you?

Lucas