I came home very relaxed yesterday. Just before hitting the sack, I wondered what was relaxing in the day.

 
I woke up early - I always do. I retired pretty late - as always. I had a very busy day - busier than usual. I had three sales calls. I travelled a lot (I have a great chauffeur but the roads and the traffic really suck). My auditor met me (before which he sent me a huge report to review) and my bankers too called upon me. Plus Narasimha, one of the co-founders of Permeative, wanted me to review a couple of published apps for feedback to the product support team - both of them were games.
 
The iPhone All Along
 

That was quite a day but I did not have to think too hard as to why I was not stressed out despite the multitude of tasks, the traffic, the roads et al. I did a host of things as I travelled. I used my iPhone to read my auditor's report. I discussed details of what my bankers wanted to meet me about over the phone - thus the actual meeting was a breeze. And I reviewed both apps - I was actually playing the games and creating high scores between my sales calls. Needless to say, I used my phone to review the pitch I was to make to a large prospect about migrating their app to the iPhone.

 
Why Complain When Things Just Got Better
 

A few days ago, I was listening to some rant on how so much technology (including the iPhone) is to the detriment of the society. One cannot give a carte blanche approval to such remarks - at least not with respect to the iPhone. If I am able to get some serious work done while I wait for the traffic signal to go green or for my client to finish another meeting, I look upon it as good. With the iPhone, I have found myself faring better as a business person than before. To add to this, my family finds me livelier - the iPhone has a host of games that I played in the physical form as a kid. If a livelier self is able to net a great business deal or have a whale of a time with one's family after a tiring day - I find it worth it. Thus why complain about the iPhone and apps on mobiles in general when things just got better.

 
Games on the iPhone Help You Be More Youthful
 

Staying on the subject of games, as the CEO of this initiative, I often talk to the press folks and friends. I tell them that the iPhone helps everyone stay younger, happier and also do serious work. See some of the reasons why one should have iPhone apps (as I tell people) here: http://blog.permeative.com/rajeev/5-reasons-to-have-an-iphone-app.

These games challenge you and urge you to do better. Someone I know wrote to me about conducting a survey on that effect that playing games on the iPhone haves on performance of managers and senior executives. The report would make an interesting read when it comes out. As someone who has chosen a life that is fast-paced, punctuated with huge uncertainties and which requires one to remain calm and composed at all times, I love the effect that iPhone game apps have - relaxing and exhilarating.

 
Business and More
 

The iPhone is a business enabler - not just in terms of the business and office productivity apps it has, but also because of how well you can utilize your time with the iPhone. There have been a host of mobile devices doing a lot of things but the iPhone has packed in a lot more, package it well and involved a huge developer community to support it by some stringent guidelines and simple processes and attractive prices to the end-users.

So when are you getting your iPhone? And if you have one, how about visiting the App Store to check out some great new apps?