ANTenna Blog -- Apple

The iPhone is entering the enterprise with a bang but new research indicates that business people have a harder time adapting to the mobile phone's keyboard.

According to a User Centric survey, "In general, participants took longer to enter text messages on the iPhone than on their own phone. Despite the keyboard similarities, QWERTY phone users took nearly twice as long to enter comparable messages on the iPhone compared to their own phone."

Businesspeople who text or email on the road and are lusting after Apple's cool gadget might want to consider these results.

InformationWeek quotes Gavin Lew, User Centric's managing director, who said, "It's very clear. Business users, people who use e-mail a lot, will take a tremendous performance hit. Even with all the nice features."

Apple has repeatedly said that it takes time to get used to the keyboard but Lew adds: "While the iPhone's corrective text feature helps, this data suggests that iPhone users who have owned the device for a month still make about the same number of errors as the day they got it."

Other surveys have found that the iPhone is more "intuitive" than other mobile devices but businesspeople who are considering buying the iPhone – especially now that it's cheaper – should heed what Lew told InformationWeek:

"The iPhone is a great switch from a numeric phone. But if you're switching from a hard-key QWERTY phone, try the iPhone in the store first."