So, you’re looking at that old Motorola or Sony Ericsson phone, which was great when you bought it two years ago. Now though, it’s not “all that.”

Have you been thinking about upgrading to a BlackBerry or an iPhone, but have wondered if there’s a business reason why to do it?

I just have one thing to say to that: Heck ya.

I had a BlackBerry for a time, and really liked it. It worked well for when I was in commercial real-estate brokerage. Now that I’m a techie (business-side only) who co-exists in the world of CRE, I have an iPhone. While I liked the BB, I really love the iPhone.

I have to admit, though - I wondered if there were any cool, good apps for the iPhone for the real-estate industry. And by “real estate” here, I mean for any type: residential brokerage, commercial brokerage, construction, architecture, etc.

Well, Future of Real Estate Marketing beat me to it. They have a post on the five must-have apps for the iPhone. I’ll let their article do the heavy lifting on the specifics, so read it.

In terms of their list, which seems to be skewed toward residential brokerage, I’d say that these apps would also be good for anyone on our commercial side of the fence. So if you’re looking for a reason (or an excuse) to run out and buy the newest iPhone, I’d say here’s five of them.

If you know of any more good iPhone apps, please let me know in the comments section. Meantime, I’ll search this week to see if I can come up with real estate-specific apps for the BB (if you know of one, please let me know about it in the Comments section here).

Meantime, click through the jump to find out about one iPhone app that only a few in our industry would want … and fewer still would be able to afford.

The one app that would “work” (if you can even say that here) for a select few in our industry is not included. It was called “I Am Rich,” cost $1,000 — that’s not a typo — and about the only thing it did was show a glowing ruby icon on one’s phone.

The idea? To show you were rich enough to buy an iPhone app that essentially did nothing. I guess it is the tech equivalent of having a Rolex, Lexus, etc. And at least with those types of luxury items, you are getting something functional out of them — a time piece, a mode of transportation, etc. The “I Am Rich,” er, app? Not so much.

Fortunately, it was in the store for maybe one day. Some people got ticked off because developers have to go through an approval process to get their apps in the store, which meant someone at Apple had to put their stamp of approval on it. Others (like me) just laughed at it and thought of lots of more-productive ways to use $1,000.

Here’s what some commenters at one blog (TodayandTomorrow.net) thought about “I Am Rich” (unedited):

This is awesome. I wish I had this great idea. Brilliant. Congrats to the author!

wow…i can see the rich sub-urban townies lined up with all the thuggin gangsta’s comparing who’s might be a bit more bright…lol..It’s an interesting app..but it’s quite a waste of money…NO offense please, but a symbol such as this sure leaves me thinking why do people still think ‘rich’ as a identity is valuable…its kinda has arrogance written all over it…what about icon apps for charity or to celebrate humanity….that would seem to have more richness..

Why complain about a little social engineering? Anybody stupid enough to purchase such an item deserves what they get - in spades.

Perhaps the psychopaths are the ones who think their life will improve by buying a worthless “jewel” for their phone - one that says “I am rich”. I suggest that these types will be separated from their money by one worthless appeal or another, why not one that is superficially worthless?

I wouldn’t buy this application, which has NO function, but you know, the truth is, this is supposed to be a free enterprise market. Someone makes something, and someone buys it. In the end, that’s all that matters.

I think it was just silly, and if anyone in our industry sunk a grand into it and not into, say, continuing education, an income-producing property, or even a new suit, they don’t deserve to be in real estate for long. Then again, it’s not my money, and I wouldn’t dream of telling someone how to spend it. I will make fun of it, though.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 19th, 2008 @ 10:34 am on the category Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.