Email Signatures – "sent from my iPhone/BlackBerry/etc"

Sent from my iPhone / BlackBerry ....!

This could easily be an addition to the series of “Ben’s pet peeves”, but I suspect the response from readers on this issue could be quite polarised too – let’s see…

So my question is around the auto-signatures that more and more wireless devices seem to be coming configured with, in the email application. The “Sent from BlackBerry” sort of auto-signature has been around for a very long time now, and this is setup as default when the device is shipped. But the question is, do these auto-signatures annoy you?

I can see one side of the argument that says it lets people know you are responding whilst on the move – which is an informational note to the recipient. But I can see an equal argument that says this could be seen as showboating by the sender i.e. guess which Mobile device I’ve got (and the inferred “and you haven’t!”).

But is it either of these, or just something trivial that should be ignored? Well for me it’s more about the malignment of the traditional signature to serve another purpose. I find genuine value in peoples’ contact details, which typically have been the subject of email signatures – but I really don’t care that someone has sent their message from a particular mobile device (be it a BBerry, iPhone, or other) or not. The fact that you have replied means you read my email and are coming back to me, it’s not relevant to me whether you are ‘on-the-move’ or not!

As I said, I suspect our readers might be somewhat polarized about this issue – but either we’d love to know what you think – are email auto-signatures worthwhile, or are they a waste of precious wireless Kbytes….? I sit in the latter camp on this issue!

Ben

About The Author

Ben Robinson

Ben is a 10+ year veteran of the Mobile industry – starting his career when SMS was a still a relatively new concept for most people (!), he has now consulted on everything from bleeding-edge Mobile content, to the next-gen accessories you might view it on. As a result he has a broad and deep knowledge in numerous areas of Mobile – from network operators to device vendors, to infrastructure and middleware vendors (not to mention content delivery) – and has worked for companies in all of these areas! He is based in the UK, a hotbed of activity for mobile, and recently became a father for the second time – as oppose to in his younger years when he was happy spend time tweaking all manner of mobile devices to 'nth' degree, he now looks for services and hardware that provide the most efficient, compact, and reliable improvements to his already manic life! It’s his opinion that Mobile solutions should be there to help to make your life better – if a particular solution (be it service or device) isn’t doing this, he believes you need to ask the very important question of why you continue to use it... His focus at IntoMobile is mainly on Mobile content, services, and infrastructure, particularly as regards the UK market – and with the occasional look at devices. Additionally, using his extensive experience in the industry, he will provide commentary on the industry at large, with regular (and hopefully thought-provoking) articles.

Simon Sage

Good call. I could see a “(via mobile)” as keeping readers well-informed about the circumstances as the e-mail being sent, and perhaps forgiving brevity or spelling errors, but the particular device shouldn’t matter. I am thankful that it’s just a default setting, though – for most webmail services (Hotmail, Yahoo!, etc.), it’s built right in and you have no say in it whatsoever.

On the other hand, some folks do take their mobile choice to heart and consider it a lifestyle issue (iPhone especially) and may want to show their colours a bit. As a BlackBerry blogger, I think I do fall into that camp.
Bill Sanders

I’ve seen many senders include a comment to the effect of “forgiving brevity or spelling errors”. A reader could appreciate that you went to the effort of responding quickly while you were (driving?) and that you actually are aware of the rudiments of spelling.
Sheik Jabouti

I use a generic “Sent from my mobile” tag, as opposed to flouting my iPhone or BlackBerry leanings.

Nothing wrong with this inclusion (esp. in traditional biz circles) in these times. Seems a standard courtesy to explain why your email might be brief or have a spelling error or two, and not include gobs of charts, attachments, 36 pt shout outs, garish colors, and emoticons every three lines. Come to think of it, I like the mobile emails I receive. They’re generally much more palatable, concise, and relevant.
Mark Horner

I use sent from my iPhone as it lets people know they can send me html emails, unlike some other phones that only have text emails.
John S. Kim

I was going to say the same thing about “forgiving brevity or spelling errors.” I guess a lot of people feel the same about those messages.
RF9

How many times have I sent an email (while at lunch) and when I got back to the office later and people would say “I got your email and came to your cube to find you, but you weren’t there.”
It never occurred to them I responded from my phone because nothing in my email indicated such. Apparently the auto signature saves people time looking for me in the wrong place (or trying to call me at the desk,) so it’s nice for them. Also the lack of actually fixing a problem and responding vs. my responding to say I’ll fix it when I can is reinforced by the signature that clearly shows that I’m on a phone.

My first move was always to delete this lame auto signature, but I’ve since put it back because it solves more problems than the minor annoyance that it causes.

Not a waste of space at all. In fact I think even spending time pondering this question is pretty silly. Just take or or leave it. Don’t let little things like this bother you when clearly they don’t actually affect you. Can I politely say (to myself included) “Get over it?”

I’m more annoyed when people don’t change their phone’s default ring tone.
Magnus

Like most of the other comments say, “Sent from my iPhone” or “Sent from my HTC Touch Pro” is a way of telling the recipient that:

“This message was very short and full of spelling errors because I sent it from a mobile device with limited keyboard and not a lot of time to respond as I was on the run”.

Of course, it could instead say “Sent from a mobile device” but that really means the exact same thing, doesn’t it? So why bother changinging the standard phrase?
Romi

Saint fomr my tuck svreen iphone
Chris Keeble

We find it useful to know when our clients, colleagues and suppliers are sending an email from their Blackberry devices / mobile phones. It helps to understand where the sender is ‘at’ – both geographically (to a degree) and in their head (… also to a degree!).

So we set this feature up centrally for all of our clients for whom we install, set up and manage Blackberry solutions and Blackberry Enterprise Servers.