While this is not hard to believe, T-Mobile says that iPhone users use 30X more data than standard mobile users. This simply supports my thoughts that the iPhone, while maybe not revolutionary, is raising the bar for the entire mobile industry.
Several months ago, I was at a meeting with a carrier who doesn’t offer the iPhone. Their thoughts about the iPhone were simple. They didn’t care that they weren’t offering it because they were seeing increased consumer demand for data services and increased interest from high-quality developers to offer iPhone-like interfaces. The iPhone was having a positive effect on their data businesses, because it raised the bar, but also drove awareness of mobile data.
This awareness and profile raising can only mean good things for mobile data, because when the end customer expects more, they get more. Boring WAP will no longer be good enough. Apps that provide minimal functionality will no longer be good enough. Rich, deep data experiences that offer multi-media and a strong focus on the UI will become the norm rather than the exception. Bravo!