The 'cost', to Apple, of going to Enterprise is pretty large. Enterprises need things like stable patch schedules, forward-looking roadmaps, and integrated control structure. The toughest, culturally, on that list, is the forward-looking roadmaps. As one of many examples: Apple's switch from PPC chips to Intel chips was done with no warning & negatively impacted order fulfillment. (I was working at a university at the time, and lab computers ordered well in advance of the change were delayed 2 weeks -- other schools who ordered later were waiting months.)

Compare & contrast Microsoft's "patch Tuesday" with Apples "patch whenever". There's a cost to 'going enterprise' that goes far beyond "we don't want you to use this at work".

And that's not even touching the issue other's have pointed out regarding 'image' and 'branding' and emotional associations with the system you're using at the job you hate.

What we've seen over the last 10 years or so is the increased consumerization of the enterprise. Essentially, large IT depts have been forced to accommodate iPhones and iPads, due to large numbers of people buying them then saying "I want to use this at work", rather than Apple having to accomodate "enterprise" needs (and thereby perpetuating often antiquated or just poor ways of doing things).

I'm generalizing here a bit, but that's another way I'd read it. It probably would have been difficult for people in the late 90s to foresee how much consumerization of IT we'd see 10-15 years in the future

Thats kind of a plastering over of the reality though.

iOS plays nice with ActiveSync, right there thats Apple accommodating enterprise needs. I can hit up exchange to remote wipe any employee's iPhone right now.

Its not that IT departments are forced to accommodate iPhones, they're forced to accommodate yet another smartphone.

Consumers want to access their company email on their personal property. The inclusion of ActiveSync wasn't to help enterprise IT departments, it was the help the consumer access the resources they want to access.

That said, there are other features of iOS that do support your point of view.

i'd not say "consumerization of the enterprise" is limited to the last 10 years - it is more like for the last almost 30 years "large IT depts have been forced to accommodate" PC, notebooks, iPhones, iPads ... (mental implants? ask Jobs what is the next :)