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Apple Allows Lotus On iPhone (After Banning Competitor)

Posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday October 01, @08:44AM
from the stay-classy-apple dept.
IBM Apple
ImNotAtWork writes "Apple is allowing IBM's Lotus to be installed on iPhones. Recently it killed a developer submitted program that was deemed competitive with Apple's product."

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[+] Apple Bans iPhone App For Competing With Mail.app 462 comments
recoiledsnake writes "Another submission has been rejected from the iPhone App Store, this time for 'duplicating the functionality of the iPhone Mail application.' The author claims that his application allows the user to log into their multiple web email accounts and that Apple seems to be confusing Gmail and Mail.app. This comes on the heels of Apple rejecting an application for competing with iTunes and rejecting other silly but harmless apps as being of 'limited utility.'" ComputerWorld has an update to the rejected Podcaster app mentioned above. It seems the developer has used Apple's "Ad Hoc" service to begin distributing the software despite the fact that they blocked it from the App Store.
Firehose:Apple allows IBM Lotus on the iPhone by ImNotAtWork (1375933)
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.

Apple Allows Lotus On iPhone (After Banning Competitor) 25 Comments More | Login | Reply /

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  • Withdraw this article before it's too late! (Score:5, Informative)

    by astrosmash (3561) on Wednesday October 01, @08:54AM (#25217085) Journal
    Lotus Notes for iPhone is just a plain old Web app. You can't stop the web.

    • Re:Withdraw this article before it's too late! (Score:5, Informative)

      by slimjim8094 (941042) on Wednesday October 01, @09:00AM (#25217157)

      Seconded. I imagine that apple did, in fact, ban this from the 'real' application store, but this is a webapp - a monstrosity of HTML, Javascript, and AJAX. It's just a webpage, and Apple doesn't give two shits. And even if they did, they couldn't do anything about it.

      HIGHLY MISLEADING ARTICLE!

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by slimjim8094 (941042)

        Pointless. This is likely a self-hosted webapp (on your corporate Lotus server), which means their list would need to include lotus.jpmorgan.com, etc... that would be a Big Fucking Mistake. They might not care about the enmity of users, but they sure care about their business users who could just as easily go back to Windows Mobile.

  • Lotus notes is not the same as using Mail and iCal on the iPhone. The program that was denied by Apple usurped those apps into its own app. To my knowledge Mail or iCal have no Lotus syncing features.

  • I'm not defending Apple's decisions on what apps can run and can't; if anything I'm really p*ssed that they would prevent any "competitive" product from running on the iPhone.

    That said, Notes is something completely different than a straight email program. If anything, it's basically a database program, and email is just another schema in it. It's so completely unlike regular email programs that I could see Apple not having a problem with it, especially since you need to have a Notes server to get/put anyth

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by gad_zuki! (70830)

      I think its incredible that they wont let people download their own email client. The vendor of the phone shouldnt even have this power. Email clients are basic functionality. Installing your own doesnt hurt Apple in any way. Typical Apple: run by short-sighted MBAs. Im so glad I didnt give in to the iphone madness. WM isnt sexy but it runs everything.

  • +1 for actually reading the article before posting (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 01, @08:59AM (#25217147)

    Did the poster even read this article before posting it? It clearly says that it's a web based application that will run through the Safari browser. Nothing gets installed on the iPhone. Try reading it next time before posting, that way the headline you choose might make sense.

    • Parent is NOT a troll... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by SenseiLeNoir (699164) on Wednesday October 01, @09:32AM (#25217493)

      I cannot understand the reason why the parent is a troll. The "application" in this case is a web application, not a native installed application.

      The post, states clearly:

      "Apple is allowing IBM's Lotus to be installed on iPhones. Recently it killed a developer submitted program that was deemed competitive with Apple's product."

      Which is wrong. I cannot see that the parent is a "troll". IT could even be argued the actual Slashdot post is a troll (patent lie, followed by a heated "angle" to start a flamewar)

  • IBM (Score:2, Insightful)

    by rlp (11898)

    IBM has more influence with Apple than Joe Random Developer. What a surprise ...

      • That's not what I read at Ed Brill's site...

        What I read was lots of iPhone fanboys screaming that there was no enterprise sync with Domino/Notes, and that this would single-handedly kill the product as Corporate America spent the next month doing nothing but throwing out all phones for iPhones, and all mail systems for Exchange.
        (That's why I call them fanboys - their reasoned analysis and reaction identifies them as such to me.)

        IBM's response was (and had to be) "Apple didn't approach us about it, and we ca

  • IBM not on the AppStore, just a webapp. (Score:5, Informative)

    by Hozza (1073224) on Wednesday October 01, @09:02AM (#25217171)

    The IBM system is just a web app i.e. a web page with AJAX, viewed via Safari on the iphone. Of course Apple can't ban it, anymore than they can ban you from visiting gmail with an iphone.

    The whole AppStore NDA issue is important, and worthy of discussion, but can we at least avoid FUD ridden straw men like this one.

  • IBM's Lotus provides more functionality than the email app that was not allowed by Apple.
    .

    There certainly seems to be a lot of whining by a vocal few who feel entitled to access to the iPhone. I especially enjoy the whining of people who have their apps disallowed. The reasons for the app rejection were well known, if only they had read the developers' agreement with Apple that they had agreed to before they started developing their apps.

  • Any justifiable limit on freedom will be adapted to unjustifiable purposes for which it was not originally intended.

    There is a legitimate justification for denying developers unrestricted freedom to publish iPhone apps: It keeps consumers safe from malicious applications.

    Now that after the policy of denying freedom to publish has been established, for that legitimate purpose, it is adapted to the illegitimate purposes of restraining competition and playing favorites.

  • Lotus is a brand, not a product (Score:3, Insightful)

    by brucmack (572780) on Wednesday October 01, @09:22AM (#25217371)

    Lotus is a brand, not a product. As far as I know, the product IBM Lotus is releasing for the iPhone is iNotes, the webmail interface to a Lotus Domino mail server. This isn't a Notes client for the iPhone.

  • But it is IBM, not a no name competitor (Score:4, Funny)

    by nomad63 (686331) on Wednesday October 01, @09:50AM (#25217773)
    The inherent reason to allow lotus notes on the i-evil-phone is to penetrate into the corporate IT infrastructure to replace the crackberry. As most of the readers here know, IBM's Lotus Notes still hold a chunky size of enterprise messaging market, to the dismay of Redmond. By allowing Lotus notes, they are making the inroads.

    Also whoever thinks Lotus notes has a better UI than any mail app, is insane in my opinion. People use Lotus notes because they have to by corporate policy. When they add it to their i-phones, it is not going to replace the use of mailapp by no means, with the exception of 3 masochistic i-phone owners. Whereas the addition of a better functioning maill front end, might force Apple to revisit theor own mail app, which means money out of Steve the conman's pocket. It is intolerable...

  • "Recently [Apple] killed a developer" (Score:3, Funny)

    by mkcmkc (197982) on Wednesday October 01, @10:18AM (#25218195)

    I'm definitely switching to Linux now...

  • WTF Slashdot?!?!!? (Score:3)

    by Warlock7 (531656) on Wednesday October 01, @11:32AM (#25219497)
    What a dumb, misleading title for an article. Well, welcome to the anti-Apple bandwagon /.

    Seems funny that this "story" is being presented the way that it is. Lotus Notes on an iPhone is a web app through the browser, this has absolutely nothing to do with the App Store, as is implied by the twit writing the story about the article. Apple has nothing to do with allowing or disallowing Lotus Notes to run since it's not an app in the app store.

    More fucking hate...

    • It's conceivable that it violates their agreement with AT&T (or one or more of the other carriers). AT&T was probably nervous about the unlimited data plan, and it would make sense for the contract to restrict the types of programs that can access the network.

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