Image via CrunchBase
The iPhone turns five on June 29th. This isn’t something I have marked on my personal calendar by the way--I am not that far gone about the device--it was brought to my attention courtesy Gazelle, a consumer electronics trade-in site when it reported on the findings of a recent survey.
So these surveys tend to be a bit self-serving and, not to pick on Gazelle or the gadget community, are common to just about every industry. In other words, take the following with a dash or two of salt.
Gazelle found that the majority of respondents (65%) cannot live without their iPhones, while only one percent say the same about Facebook. (Here I must digress to note that Facebook has been getting panned in a number of surveys lately to the point of piling on. Best example: two days before Facebook’s IPO, AP and CNBC released a survey that found that half of Americans see the social network as a fad).
Nearly 15% of Gazelle’s respondents also say they would rather give up sex than go without their iPhone for a weekend, which makes me wonder about some of my fellow iPhone owners (although to be fair the survey is unclear--does it mean no sex forever, or just none for the weekend in question?).
Changing Manners
Where the survey does ring very true is its observations about how the iPhone has changed manners and social expectations. Actually this can be attributed to all handhelds now, but since the iPhone was the first wildly popular consumer smartphone it gets the honors.
It found that more than 25% of survey respondents "almost always" use their iPhone in a social setting such as during a meal or while at a party and a combined 58% of respondents say they use their iPhone in a social setting either "usually" or "occasionally".
BYOD Meets the iPhone at a Client Lunch
Here’s my question: as BYOD becomes more a matter of practice and not just a trend, how much will our love affair with the iPhone and other devices change business etiquette as well?
We’re already surreptitiously peeking at our phones during staff meetings (guilty), conferences (heck yes) and webinars our editors insist we watch (that goes without saying).
Is the day coming when we whip out our devices during lunch with a client or a sales prospect? A brief pause during a job interview maybe? My guess is that day is not too far off. I recently interviewed someone who told me he has actually seen some prospective job candidates get antsy when they learn they may not be able to use their own devices at work.
I can understand kicking up a fuss over a no-frills health insurance policy, but come on people. I wonder what we will be like when the iPhone turns ten.
