I was momentarily very happy today when I came across a story in my feeds saying the iPhone was going corporate. And then I read the post and immediately realized it was not going to happen.

All the rates and plans and promotions and parades and proclamations in the world are not going to bring the iPhone to corporate America until it has the ability to pull email from Microsoft Exchange Servers and BlackBerry Enterprise Servers. Why? Because almost all of the big companies in America use one or both.

One of my partners stood in line to buy an iPhone the day it was released. I remember when he showed it to us at lunch the next day day. All of us were jealous. All of us wanted one. As the initial coolness factor faded in favor of the I need to get my work email factor, however, he found it burdensome to carry an iPhone and a Blackberry. He ended up getting rid of the iPhone and going back to the boring, feature challenged, but work-email compatible Blackberry.

Someone will say, "but you can get your work email over the web with an iPhone." That person has never worked in a corporate environment where immediate and effective access to your email and other data is critical to your effectiveness. In sum, that just doesn't work.

I would buy my way out of my Verizon contract and buy an iPhone today if it could pull my office email. So would a lot of other people I know. But it won't, so we don't.

Meanwhile, I got a letter from Verizon's customer retention department this week, offering me a Blackberry Pearl 8130 for $50. No contract extension required. I just called them, and they are sending it to me via Federal Express. It's no iPhone, but it's a start.