Built on Collaboration

I've been asked a few times lately about which phones are suitable for using with project collaboration tools - in one particular case the choice came down to an iPhone or a BlackBerry. Having owned them both, I believe that there is no contest. Although the BlackBerry is the business tool of choice for many, my view is that the iPhone is far superior, particularly when used with a web-based collaboration tool.

Without meaning to sound like I'm on the Apple payroll, I have to say that the iPhone is the best phone I've ever used. The main advantage is that it allows full-feature web-browsing. In contrast, the BlackBerry can't handle frames, SSL or AJAX, making it virtually useless for anything beyond static pages.

The iPhone user interface puts it in a different league to the BlackBerry and others. For example, when viewing a page or file, sweeping and pinching to scroll and zoom is very easy to use and looks great. Another nice feature is that when you want to view something in landscape you simply turn the phone from portrait to landscape and the image on the screen follows.

On previous products (the Nokia E61i comes to mind) an overlooked aspect of usability has been the key size. Having chunky fingers, I've found that some phones, with their toggles and tiny keys, are too fiddly for heavy use. The iPhone is easy to type into and is definitely suitable for the type of use that the mail module on a collaboration tools generates.

Email is one area that the BlackBerry does extremely well. But I think the iPhone matches it and, for me, this is the clincher. The iPhone goes toe-to-toe with the Blackberry on the BlackBerry's strongest feature and yet it's streets ahead in terms of usability. I think the choice is a no-brainer but, as always, I'm interested to know your thoughts.

Labels: Technology