[Macworld]

Post your comments for Apple sends the wrong signal to iPhone customers here

[kyle988]

I was at a AT&T store. Their employees were also great, giving constant status reports, answering questions and passing around the demo units for everyone to pay with while waiting. They also brought everyone water twice which was nice as it was getting hotter as the day went on.

[Frumius]

I didn't buy an iPhone 3G, but I watched the debacle from the outside. I did try to download the 2.0 software for my first gen iPod touch, only finally succeeding at about 10 PM Pacific.
I heartily agree with Philip Michaels. Hear him, Hear him!

[flowney]

Stony silence? Easy to explain. Steve Jobs is on the rampage and everyone at Apple is trying to hide. No matter the overall success, heads will roll. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. I would not want to be anywhere near the Stevereno right now.

[dalellarson]

As I said Friday, I'd really love to hear what the thinking was behind all the changes in the experience buying and activating a new iPhone, and it's a shame that Apple chose not to comment at all.
If the experience around purchase/activation/service can't be Apple's long-term mark on the mobile industry, perhaps the App Store will be.
-Dale Larson

[Axl]

I agree wholeheartedly but I'll hold judgement until the end of the week. Apple sold a lot of phones but probably pissed off a lot more of their customers. Nothing wrong with admitting failure. Specially we all know it will all end up as a huge success anyway. Oops, here comes Steve.... HIDE!!

[louielu12]

I had a pretty good experience at AT&T too. There were two dedicated employees who were outside with us almost constantly. They answered all of our questions, and told us everything they knew--which wasn't much since the corporate executives who were there wouldn't tell them everything. I didn't get an iPhone however, since they ran out of 16 GB.
I then went to Apple, told an employee my experience, and they let me bypass the long line and let me get an iPhone right away. But because of AT&T not letting you go to Apple with a corporate discount (IRU), they were unable to sell it to me.

[rlmorel]

OMG! People buying a new cellphone were WITHOUT THEIR PHONE FOR...A FEW HOURS! Gulp!
Really, people. I think it is just crazy. Of course, that is just me.
It isn't as if Apple committed crimes against humanity. This just makes consumers look unhinged, the complete, hair pulling, chest beating hysteria when the gratification isn't instant and complete.

[BruisedApple]

Overblown to the point of a serious "get over it!". I waited for 3 hours, and my iPhone didn't activate until 1pm. But I didn't whine about it and cry on TV. Apple worked through it (like I knew they would) and I'm a happy 3G owner. Move on, nothing more here.

[distortedloop]

Quote

"Apple did not comment publicly on the problems, but privately executives acknowledged the missteps and said the combination of the software upgrades and new iPhone 3G owners trying to complete their activation swamped the company’s servers."

I'm sorry, but that's just BS. I bought into that line on Friday as I stood in line for far too long, but it doesn't jive after four days. And it doesn't really jive for Friday either, because even after Apple just started sending people home with their new iPhones unactivated, they still couldn't move people through the lines. What does a bunch of old owners trying to upgrade their software have to do with selling someone an iPhone if Apple was no longer even opening the box of the phone to try to activate it in iTunes? I left the store with my phone still in the shrinkwrap.
A friend of mine is in line at the Sherman Oaks Apple Store right now (7:30 PM Pacific). She's been there since 3:30 this afternoon. At 7:00 PM she texted me an update, and they had only moved the line 25 people in that 3.5 hours. The whole credit check, select a plan, etc. process is the culprit here, and it's going to be a long slow painful process to buy an iPhone no matter when you go. Apple will never be able to do this process gracefully.
This poor lady stood in line with me for an iPhone on Friday. She got turned away (see my blog post about why at http://thedigitaldive.net/blog/?p=70 ), then she tried to get one in Santa Barbara on Saturday, but the AT&T store ran out. Then she tried another AT&T store on Sunday, and after a two hour wait, they sold the last phone to someone two people in line ahead of her. Now she's got got 20 people ahead of her, and they're turning you away at 8:15. Since they close at 9:00, you can assume they're assuming it will take 45 minutes per customer to handle, or why close the line so early.
I agree, and wrote in my blog that Apple better find a way to make amends to those who were told "We're staffed to move 100 people per hour through the store" when they were only able to move 10 people per hour, and appear to still only be able to do that number.

[dalellarson]

Really?

If you spent a couple hundred dollars for another piece of electronics, say a cheap laptop or a DVD player, you'd expect to be able to use it rigth away. You'd rightfully complain if they forced you into a process where you had to fill out the warranty registration before you could even ring up your purchase, and then had to go through another process to activate the device before you could take it home. You'd be especially unhappy if both steps had problems and delays, wasting your time and preventing you from simple enjoyment of your new purchase.

[iRichard94102]

I honestly think there was something missing from this article. For those who could not go to an Apple because either there is not one ini your market or because you receive some form of a discount such as a FAN#. AT&T was your only option. Having experienced it myself on Friday and read many of the message boards, there were quite a AT&T stores with 40 to 50 to sell on opening day. I am not stating all where that way. Most of are stuck in this backorder Fulfillment option that keeps bouncing back and forth between being available to backorder daily.
I would rather had purchase it at the closest Apple store to me. They still had stock over the weekend. I would settle on being able to get a real status update on my order. I guess I could dream.

Sorry for rant.

[clayshima]

I beg to differ.
So all the early adopters that went in line were so naive to believe that
all the products coming together in the rollout would come smoothly?
Come on! Geeks will be geeks, right? People who supposedly can
understand the technicalities of such a huge launching? I guess many
saw it coming.
And about Apple's attitude: you people in the continental USA were
lucky enough to AT LEAST have the sympathizing presence of the
Apple Store's staffs. Outside USA people were mostly enraged by the
total "shut off" stance of the carriers selling the iPhone.
Here's my answer to another post, in another board:
http://forums.macwor...e/649621#649621

[adobephile]

Yeah, it's easy to make too much of Friday's mishaps, as well as to slip in a cheap article like this to pander to the glut of disgruntled complainers who have nothing better to do than fling some trash up on Apple's "stage."
Apple committed the dual "crimes" of "being there and communicating". As if no one knows what that feels like from their personal experience!
Perhaps we'll hear some official statement once Apple has had time to collate all the information from the long product launch weekend, which happened to be a watershed event in the company's history, by the way.
But whether or not that happens, the most important datum arising out of this event is the news of iPhone 3G sales along with App Store sales and downloads. This is the real story. This is what really matters. This says there were far more people willing and eager to get their hands on yet more sterling Apple products. They're the ones whose voice and votes really count.
HIstory will vindicate Apple for its bold move this past weekend. It wouldn't have made any sense to spread the releases out to ease the confusion--or the impact, for that matter. If anything, the problems served to punctuate the positive impact of the release of a new computer platform.
I'm already experiencing some of the changes in my life with my OLD iPhone and its new OS and some of the apps. This is what I envisioned as eventually happening despite all the grumbling over "no 3rd-party apps" on the first iPhone. I knew that Apple was probably just working out the logistics of it before it made any announcements, and before it knew anything about what the reception would be for the iPhone.
Developers and customers are going to find many thousands of ways to use this new device. It's more of a computer than a phone. It breathes new life and relevance into the personal computer, and it will have a huge impact on millions of individuals, groups, and the society at large.
A few minor difficulties and inconveniences deserve to be ignored. They'll be old news in a few days. And that's how it should be.
Concentrate on these new products and the significant win for Apple. These new products are going to be a lot of fun to own and use.