BlackBerry-free with iPhone 3G: Read this first

Integrating iPhone 3G into an existing messaging, sync and Web-based service back end is one thing. Yanking a BlackBerry off a lifelong user's hip and replacing it with an iPhone 3G is something else. Want to watch?

I've written about my plans to make the switch from a BlackBerry to an iPhone 3G as my ever-present wireless device. I still face barriers that make this a less than ideal time to start this project, but identifying and overcoming barriers define professional life. Those barriers will lengthen the narrative, but they should be part of the story.

I should explain why I'm making this switch. I know BlackBerry technology about as well as anyone can and from several perspectives. I relate often that I was an executive in the wireless business when BlackBerry shipped its first two models. I established a tight working relationship with Research in Motion and (in my opinion) its best fit for wireless operator, T-Mobile, many years ago. Except for those times when I'm production-testing another mobile platform, I carry a T-Mobile BlackBerry.

I regularly invite contenders to knock BlackBerry off my hip. The best of these was Nokia's E61i. For a time, it did replace my BlackBerry 8800, but the frequency of software updates is an indicator of quality. The only firmware update Nokia ever delivered for the E61i created more bugs than it fixed. Nokia's present lineup, which I'm keen to try, makes the E61i look like a prototype. Windows Mobile handsets from HTC have the best form factor options among QWERTY devices. They're built tight and the vendor's value-added software is excellent. But their displays, though wide, are slow, and the quality of their cameras is unacceptable for the price. Unlike BlackBerry, HTC rarely issues interim software fixes.

Now iPhone 3G with iPhone 2.0 software has entered the picture. It answers a lot of my objections to other devices. Apple issues frequent updates that cover iPhone 3G and first-gen iPhone equally. iPhone 3G's CPU is underpowered for the device's size and weight, but Apple wisely made display performance and quality its top priorities. iPhone 3G's camera is abysmal, but so is BlackBerry Curve's. iPhone 3G's software value add is...everything. iPod, App Store, Safari, Google Maps with GPS, Office attachment viewers, and Exchange Server with ActiveSync support in the standard e-mail client create a very well-rounded device out of the box.

I set a steep path for myself by deciding to attack this switch precisely as one would an enterprise deployment of multiple devices. I'll run the roles of manager, administrator, developer and user in parallel. I didn't make this up for iPhone. It's how I do all my work. I run my own IT shop. All of the professional services and solutions that I specify and consume run on servers that I set up from scratch and maintain. With the exception of time-constrained reviews and forward-looking editorial, if I write about some technology, that means I've bet my livelihood on it. Putting my own data and connectivity at risk subjects me to the same realities faced by commercial technology buyers and users like you.

I've one other objective in mind. I'm pulling together my next blockbuster high-end handset review, and before I get started I want iPhone 3G established as the device to beat, and let a new BlackBerry take a run at it alongside two new Nokias, something from HTC, and who knows what else. I'm setting that up this week at the CTIA conference.

The first of the aforementioned hurdles is the AT&T wireless coverage. This exercise requires an enterprise plan, and it requires that I interact with AT&T from the perspective of an enterprise prospect. I know how BlackBerry is sold. I don't know how AT&T sells iPhone other than to consumers. That's important. I've only got a couple of weeks to figure that out before the prepaid coverage runs out.

I think AT&T's at this CTIA thing somewhere.