07年1月9日，Macworld发布会上苹果公司首席执行官史蒂夫•乔布斯(Steve Jobs) 用随意和略带调皮的口吻宣布 “今天，我来共同创造一段历史。”（"We're going to make some history together today."）业界传闻已久的iPhone在那一刻面世了。
上网冲浪、发email、浏览网页、聊天、听音乐、观看视频……这个个头不太大的iPhone几乎能完成电脑的所有功能。在接下来的不到一年多时间内，它迅速倾倒了全世界用户的心。据苹果公司称，目前iPhone在美国智能手机市场已占有28%的市场份额，而且这一比例还在逐日上升。
但对于一些大公司的信息技术部门来说，员工对iPhone的喜爱是他们的一大心病。iPhone的设计理念以用户体验为核心，与专门为办公用途而开发的商务机诸如Research In Motion Ltd.的黑莓(BlackBerry)比起来，iPhone的安全保密性能十分令人担忧。一些公司的IT部门明令禁止所有员工使用iPhone办公，本报所属的道琼斯公司就是其中之一。
信息技术人员用他们的iPhone收发邮件，管理用户资料，访问公司内部网络。iPhone靓丽的TFT大屏幕和友好的网页浏览器令他们爱不释手。但手机丢失或被盗的情况时常发生。iPhone密码保护不堪一击，用户也不能通过远端控制销毁手机上的保密信息。
广告今年三月初，iPhone向黑莓发起了挑战。苹果公司宣布将采取重要的改进措施来弥补iPhone在商务应用上的漏洞，包括在预安装软件上增加安全模式以及支持远程控制清除手机信息。同时，苹果iPhone的独家运营商AT&T Inc.改变了以往只接受个人缴款的付费方式，同意通过公司帐户为员工缴电话费。对此，市场研究公司Forrester Research的分析师说：“苹果公司的这些举措，正好是IT部门最关心的。”而另一家市场研究机构嘉纳公司（Gartner Inc.）分析说：“这些改变将使iPhone适于商用。”
但让IT高管们禁忌的不仅仅是安全漏洞。用iPhone下载软件并非绝对自由的。如果公司想给员工们的iPhone添加任何一个三方软件，都得通过苹果，这相当于把公司的内部程序都暴露给苹果。公司高管们当然不乐意。
Auto Warehousing的首席信息官Dale Frant从iPhone上市的第一周就开始使用它了，他承认将iPhone用于办公确实能提高工作效率。他提到有一次，他在底特律机场候机时，通过iPhone连接到了车间的跟踪检查系统，发现有好多辆车上有刮痕。紧接着，他拨通了车间管理室的电话，随后他们抓住一个组装工人的正在用皮带破坏车身。他说，如果他使用的不是iPhone，而是别的任何一款手机，他都不可能这么及时地发现和解决类似的问题。但尽管如此，Frant先生还是担心如果在公司大规模推广iPhone，他们的整个操控系统程序就得通过苹果安装。
此外，秉承苹果的孤傲血脉，iPhone的兼容性能同样不佳：iPhone不支持许多公司正使用的办公软件；不兼容除AT&T蜂窝外的大多数运营商服务网络。在实施三月提出的改进方案后，iPhone将和微软的邮件系统良好合作。但Parole and Pardon Services公司的南加州技术总监David O'Berry认为这还远远不够，他说：“我们公司使用的是Novell的邮件系统而非微软的，苹果的改进对我们来说没有太大意义。”
但公司的制止似乎并不能遏制员工们对iPhone的热情。旧金山Thomas Weisel Partners Group公司首席安全官Beth Cannon是黑莓这类专业商务手机的拥护者，因为她信任黑莓的内置保护程序的安全性。但她也无奈地说：“即使在你向员工解释为什么要在信息部门禁止iPhone后，他们还是很难控制自己不去使用它。”
iPhone上不需要鼠标和键盘，一切都在OS-X操作系统上进行，使用户从电脑的制约中解脱出来，从而获得更为自由的数字体验。这一切都强烈地吸引着热衷新技术的IT人员。一些技术专家说，iPhone很可能给公司接纳新技术的方式带来意想不到的改变。“用户拥有最大的决定全力。”德国商务软件制造商SAP AG.副总裁Mike de la Cruz说。他们已经开始研发一个iPhone专用的客户管理软件。他说，他们做这项开发的一部分原因是他们自己的销售人员就在使用iPhone。而且他们看好iPhone的市场前景，如果他们不做，他们的竞争对手也会去做，等到那时就晚了。除了SAP AG，美国国际商用机器公司（IBM）也已着手为Lotus邮件系统开发一个iPhone版本；salesforce.com Inc.，Sun Microsystems Inc.等公司都即将加入到为iPhone量身裁衣的队伍中来。
IT们对iPhone既恨又爱，他们是唯一受限使用iPhone的人群，但也是最有可能为iPhone的成熟贡献直接力量的人群。
In less than a year, the iPhone has won the hearts of users, who speak of the combination cellphone, Internet device and music player with reverence.
Indeed, the iPhone, which maker Apple Inc. says has captured 28% of the U.S. smart-phone market, seems to be loved by everyone -- everyone, that is, except those who work in corporate information-technology departments.
Designed with the consumer in mind, the iPhone is less secure than business-oriented smart phones such as those from Nokia Corp. or Research In Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerry, according to IT professionals. But that isn't stopping people from using the device for work-related tasks such as checking email, managing sales contacts and getting information about prospective clients. In fact, market researcher Nielsen Co. estimates that one-quarter of iPhone owners over the age of 18 pass their phone bills on to their employer, suggesting significant use of the device for business.
Many IT groups have banned the iPhone from their workplaces, complaining that there is no way to force employees to protect their iPhones with passwords and that they can't erase sensitive corporate data from remote locations if the device is stolen or lost. Additionally, they say the iPhone doesn't support the software many businesses use and that it only works on one cellular carrier's network.
But keeping the iPhone out of the office may be a losing battle. As a result, some technology experts say the iPhone could usher in a change in the way businesses adopt new technologies.
Shifting Landscape
Whereas software vendors and other tech suppliers traditionally pitched their products to high-ranking executives and IT managers, some are now paying closer attention to the technologies workers actually use. Some vendors say that if employees make clear that they are going to embrace a particular device -- with or without their IT department's approval -- then they will develop compatible products for it. Otherwise, they risk losing business to rivals.
'It's clear to us that power is shifting to the users' and away from IT departments, says Mike de la Cruz, a vice president at business-software maker SAP AG. 'So we've changed our strategy to focus on the users.'
SAP, of Germany, says it is developing a version of its customer-management software for the iPhone that will let salespeople access information about leads and customers, partly because its own salespeople prefer the iPhone. International Business Machines Corp. of Armonk, N.Y., is developing a version of its Lotus email and collaboration software for iPhone users, and salesforce.com Inc., of San Francisco, and Sun Microsystems Inc., of Santa Clara, Calif., are among other companies tailoring software for Apple's device.
Some vendors are designing applications aimed at making the iPhone more business-friendly. Sybase Inc., for example, released an iPhone version of its software for forwarding corporate email and other data to mobile devices. Sybase's software is installed and managed centrally, so it gives IT departments some measure of control over what end users are doing. Overwhelming demand from managers and executives at customer companies led Sybase to create the iPhone-tailored software, according to Senthil Krishnapillai, a director of project management at the Dublin, Calif., company.
Apple and its iPhone partner, AT&T Inc., are trying to make the iPhone more business-friendly, too. In January, AT&T began to allow iPhone purchases by corporate-account holders. Previously, the telephone company would bill iPhone charges only to individuals, and they would have to seek reimbursement from their companies. 'We saw business customers clamoring for the iPhone' and wanted to make it easier for them to use the device, says an AT&T spokesperson.
Apple, of Cupertino, Calif., said earlier this month that it plans to release new iPhone software in June that will allow IT departments to integrate the device with Microsoft Corp.'s email, calendar and contact-management software. The new software also will allow iPhones to connect to a corporate network in a secure fashion and give IT staffs the ability to erase data on a lost or stolen iPhone from a remote location.
Simon Yates, an analyst at Forrester Research Inc., says these moves address the biggest concerns that IT departments have about the iPhone. Another research company, Gartner Inc., said the announced changes would make the iPhone appropriate for business use.
Harboring Doubts
Despite the steps to make the iPhone more business-friendly, some chief information officers continue to harbor doubts. David O'Berry, who heads IT for the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services, says his organization uses email software from Novell Inc., not Microsoft, so Apple's changes won't help him. In addition, even though Apple intends to set up a private section of its new App Store -- the service through which people download applications for their iPhones -- for business, Mr. O'Berry and other chief information officers don't like the fact that they would have to go through Apple to distribute in-house software to employees. That means giving Apple access to their computer code, which some are reluctant to do.
Most people who use their iPhones for work don't think about these technical challenges. What they see is a device capable of connecting to wireless Internet networks, with a full-fledged Web browser and a large screen that gives them access to the same Internet pages they can get on their personal computers and gives them the ability to play music and movies.
Michael King, a Gartner analyst, says that while other phones have browsers with similar features, their smaller screen sizes give them limited utility. He expects bigger screens to become more commonplace on smart phones soon.
When Mark Russell, vice president of sales and marketing at U-Line Corp., had to replace a damaged Nokia smart phone, he bought an iPhone. The phone's 'cool' factor was its main appeal, but he found that its Web browser allowed him to more easily locate distributors and get directions to meetings. He says that because he is an executive, his Milwaukee company agreed to support the device, using software from Visto Corp. that allows him to access email on the iPhone.
Productivity Boon?
Dale Frantz, chief information officer at Auto Warehousing Co., a Tacoma, Wash., company that inspects vehicles for auto makers, has been using an iPhone since the first week it was available. He is convinced that the iPhone's Web browser can boost productivity.
Auto Warehousing's systems -- everything from email to the internal software used to inspect autos -- can be accessed by any Internet-connected device with a Web browser, which typically meant a desktop or laptop computer.
But in February, while waiting for a flight in the Detroit airport, Mr. Frantz used his iPhone to check the system Auto Warehousing uses to track vehicle inspections. He found that several cars in the same plant all had scratches. He called the auto plant, where it turned out a worker on the assembly line was scratching the cars with his belt. Mr. Frantz says he wouldn't have been able to catch and resolve the problem so quickly had he been using a different phone.
Still, Mr. Frantz isn't convinced that the changes Apple announced this month to help businesspeople will have a big impact on his company, because Auto Warehousing uses Web-based software. He also has concerns about the plan requiring businesses to distribute software through the App Store.
Other technology executives aren't convinced, either. Smart phones can contain a lot of valuable and confidential corporate information, and they can be so easily lost or stolen. BlackBerrys and other mobile devices designed for the corporate market have built-in software that enables the IT department to require employees to encrypt or password-protect the devices.
None of that may matter, however. As Beth Cannon, the San Francisco-based chief security officer for Thomas Weisel Partners Group, says: Even after she explains to people why her IT department can't allow them to use the device, they 'still want to use their iPhone.'
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中“[双语新闻]IT为什么讨厌iPhone?剖析既恨又爱理由”相关内容
中“[双语新闻]IT为什么讨厌iPhone?剖析既恨又爱理由”相关内容
中“[双语新闻]IT为什么讨厌iPhone?剖析既恨又爱理由”相关内容