Using the iPhone as a business tool

I was on the computer in the early hours of the morning waiting to pre-order my iPhone 4. After the two hours of frustration getting all the way through the order process to click "Buy", only to get an error screen and start over, I gave up and headed to the ATT store.

When I arrived at the AT&T store, I found the computer system was down there too. My wife and I wandered next door for a great burrito at Mission Burrito, it was already noon. By two pm I got my name on the mystical pre-order list and was told that I was lucky since they just sold out, I was one of the last to make the list.

Nearly three weeks later the iPhone arrived at the store. The phone sat at the store for three more days while I worked in California with my old clunky, slow blackberry curve.
The excitement peaked as I picked up my iPhone and spent another $200 for accessories like car chargers, cases and screen protectors. The case quickly ruined the screen protector and I had to upgrade my iTunes to make it all work. The fun was just beginning.

The next day I tried multitasking. The iPhone just about redeemed itself as I set an appointment with a client while talking on the phone. The client kept saying he could barely hear me. I didn't catch what he was saying since I was so focused on finding the non-existent "add invitees" button.

Now I had to create a task to send an invitation from home....WHAT no tasks either? I had to be imagining all of this. Apple couldn't have possibly have overlooked this, my very first Mac had tasks and invites.

When I got home I got on the Apple forums to find that my client couldn't hear me because there is a Bluetooth problem. I already had a case so that wasn't it. I have 9 Bluetooth headsets and tried them all. One old clunky AT&T 521 finally started working occasionally. The trick was to switch between speaker and headset two or three times asking "can you hear me now". The irony of this wasn't lost on me as my step dad's laugh came across crystal clear from his new Droid Incredible. He had just selected the Droid over the iPhone 4 as the standard at his office.

The forums also offers dozens of workarounds for tasks, and invitees. All of them required a software purchase, monthly subscription and a two step sync process.
So here I sit, day 30 with my iPhone 4, waiting to go look at a BlackBerry Storm2. The games I have on my iPhone 4 are really cool, but I need tasks and invites to make the money that buys those games. A spam filter would be nice too.

What do you think, iPhone 4, too much "i" and not enough smart "Phone" for business or am I too picky? Is the iPhone 4 a real business tool or just a toy?

Let me know.

Scott Bourquin