iPhone overload

Tongue firmly in cheek, Senior Writer Tom Kaneshige wrote A new etiquette for the iPhone generation, which addresses the supposedly serious “behavioral and societal effects” of the device. The story was the perfect setup for InfoWorld’s Ten Commandments of iPhone etiquette, which we had more fun with than anything we’ve done in years.

Contributor David Strom (substituting for vacationing blogger Bill Sndyer) also succumbed to iPhone mania with his proclamation that the iPhone is as close as Apple will ever get to an under-$500 computer.

I find it interesting, though, that readers gave their highest rating of all to Tom Yager’s blog post about deploying iPhones in business, which was detailed in its criticism. Clearly, iPhone fever has multiple symptoms.

Enough with the gadget obsession. Our app dev bloggers Martin Heller and Neil McAllister were busy this week: Martin offered sympathy and useful advice for JavaScript coders, while Neil McAllister took another look at Perl 6 and concluded that rumors of its vapor status were untrue.

In an earlier post this week, I wrote about the state of green IT, which seems to be languishing in the face of economic concerns that trump all else. My own feeling is that green tech needs to extend way beyond the datacenter if it’s going to catch the next wave of technology development.

Meanwhile, what about your own economic status? Tom Kaneshige argues that you may want to cover your bets in Ready to be a free agent? No, Tom doesn’t suggest that now is the time to leave your current gainful employment and hang out your contractor’s shingle. But ever the careful guy, he thinks preparing for the freelance life is a prudent precaution. On the bright side: if you’re freelancing, that gives you more time with your iPhone.