Recently I’ve been receiving a bunch of flack for my iPhone signature “Sent from my iPhone.” For those who don’t know what I’m talking about, the iPhone places this line on the bottom of all emails which are sent from the iPhone. BlackBerry does the same thing with “Sent from my BlackBerry” but for some reason the iPhone’s signature has really been looked down upon.

I really believe the price and hype around the iPhone has contributed to all the negative comments about the iPhone’s signature. For some people, receiving an iPhone message which follows with the signature “Sent from my iPhone” indicates the following about the sender:

• “They are a pompous ass showing off their iPhone
• “They have way to much disposable income”
• “Wow, this person drank from the Apple punch bowl”
• “They are too busy to send me a real email”
• “This person really has the need to tell me they are working hard”

OK, those are just a few of the negative spins on the signature. If you want to read more about the negative takes on the iPhone read Mitch Wagner’s article in Information Week. Mitch believes anyone who hasn’t removed the signature is a doofus. Nice use of doofus, Mitch!

However, I’m going to flip this argument around. I’m 100% behind the signatures because they tell me a different story. When I see someone has sent me a message from an iPhone or BlackBerry I make the following judgments:

• “OK, they have a mobile device so they have zero excuse for not getting back to me within 48 hours”
• “If their email is short and has typos I know why”
• “This person obviously likes to stay connected”
• “There is a good chance I’ll be able to reach this person during off-work hours”

Yesterday during lunch this discussion came up and Bruce had a great insight, why not just say “Sent from my mobile phone.” This signature leaves out the brand name and the negative associations that others my read into BlackBerry or iPhone. Bruce is totally correct; however being an Apple shareholder I’m also about marketing the products, so for now “Yeah, I sent it from my iPhone.”