Interesting take from Joe Panettieri writing in MuniWireless about the Apple/Cisco/iPhone saga. You’ll remember that the drama began in January when Cisco sued Apple over the use of the iPhone name (they eventually made up). Fast forward seven months and Cisco is admitting that a bug in its wireless LAN network gear – and not the iPhone, as was initially speculated – caused Duke University’s WLAN to flood. Panettieri says it’s time now for Steve Jobs to pick up his iPhone and “hammer out an iPhone partnership with Cisco.”
In fact, municipal and university CIOs should demand an Apple-Cisco relationship. Here’s why.
Sure, the iPhone is a huge hit. And consumer-related problems have been minimal so far. But as more iPhones enter corporate settings, we’re bound to see unexpected issues pop up. Just ask Duke University, which is working overtime to troubleshoot an apparent network issue with iPhones.
Will the iPhone cause similar problems on municipal wireless networks? I can’t say for sure, but stronger relationships between Apple and networking vendors would provide some peace of mind.
Panettieri posted his blog on July 18, before Cisco confirmed Duke’s problem was caused by its network gear. But it would be interesting to know how far Cisco and Apple have discussed integration, which was part of the agreement when they made up, and whether the problem experienced at Duke added any new elements to the discussions.
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