Well, I have no idea how MANY iPhone 3Gs Apple sold yesterday (I know now that 1 Million is the proper number), but I was one of the folks who bought one. Now before you go getting all anti-consumer on me and telling me how it’s evil white boys like me who are bringing down society. This has been a planned purchase for a while. Not only that, my lovely Mother-in-Law gifted me the iPhone for my graduation present. She listened to my iPhone ranting and granted my wish. I love the iPhone UI and I said as soon as it had 3G and GPS, I’d get one, no matter the price. Thankfully (as you’ll see below) it wasn’t that expensive. Well, like the folks in NYC, Boston, and other municipalities, I was out bright and early yesterday hoping to get one. I arrived at the Albany Crossgates Mall at about 5AM. I was under the impression that I would have no difficulties getting my phone from the Apple Store there, having called on several occasions to make sure that they could handle people like me, those “non-upgrade eligible customers” who would be forced to pay $499 (the original price for the 16GB iPhone) rather than $299. I had been assured I would be fine.
I talked to the folks around me. Watched Harry Potter (yes, I’m a dork) on my PSP and read from 5AM to around 7AM. About this time I took up the sport of watching the hired police officers and security guards set up an airport style snaking line barricade system. Eventually they even very successfully cut off the line and moved those people into the snaking “s”. By 7:30AM Apple Store employees were going around handing out water (coffee would have been nice), pamphlets, and making sure we had our IDs, etc.
At 8AM the first 13 of us (I guess it was supposed to be 15, but a few employees were getting into gear) were filed into the store. I was number 11. “Sweet,” I thought to myself as I went in, “I bet I’ll even be out of here by 8:30AM.” I suspect it was that thought that altered my trajectory into user/consumer hell.
The two people who wound up on front of me were a young couple on a family plan with Verizon. They were switching to AT&T to get the iPhones, but the guy (who had been wearing his Solid Snake bluetooth headset all morning) was dead set on making his sign-up process difficult. He was asking questions that anyone in line at prior to 5AM would already know the answer to. Thankfully another Apple Store employee came up to me. Did I know what I wanted? “A 16GB Black iPhone please.” He started asking questions, SSN, phone number, etc. After a moment or two he looked up from his little device.
“Are you a corporate customer,” he asked? “Umm, I don’t think so.” “Well, I can’t see you, so you must be a corporate customer.” “Does that have something to do with my account having a FAN number?” “I don’t know. Maybe.” It was at this moment that I realized my time would have been better spent sitting in line at the AT&T Store for the last three hours. I bolted from the Apple Store headed upstairs to the AT&T Store.
At first, my approach appeared to be unhindered. As I ran towards the AT&T store I saw what at first appeared to be only a few people in line. Perspective is everything though, and I quickly realized that there were more than thirty people in line ahead of where I was going to land. The unease in my stomach began to mount. As I ran past the AT&T store I glanced in, all five terminals were occupied, not nearly as robust as the Apple Store’s 15 people, but based on scale it shouldn’t have been bad.
Again, I was in line, though now sweating because the mall was not itself air conditioned, instead relying on the AC overflow from other stores, not nearly enough to counteract my bodies ability to sweat on the drop of a pin. Another couple arrived behind me in line. It was at this moment that I realized fully that the clientele of the Apple Store and the AT&T store differed significantly.
The couple that arrived in line behind me were clearly not the same trendy teenie-boppers and IT professionals that had been in line downstairs. No, this guy was making it abundantly clear that he was not happy to be in line. “F*ck this! What the f*ck?!? I didn’t work all night to f*cking stand in line! This is what they want! … There should be two f*cking lines! …” The tirade continued for roughly twenty minutes. Eventually he ran out of steam as he and his significant other began talking about who was going to take grandma to the hospital for her operation later in the day.
Interestingly, the guy in front of me in line (an AT&T customer) had a Jail Broken iPhone, which was amusing to observe throughout the process. It aslo gave me an appreciation for how someone who knows how to use the iPhone uses it versus how an inexperienced user uses it (me).
After nearly an hour and a half in line, only half of the line in front of me had moved forward. Occasionally AT&T employees began poking their heads out, counting the number of people in line. Clearly one or two managers began making phone calls. We would ask occasionally, “Do you have enough for us?” To which the answer was, “I don’t know.” It was this keeping us in the dark that eventually began to grate on people in line. Obviously they did know how many they had. At least someone in the store did. The solution seemed simple, ask the people in line what they were going to get and let the other folks who would be out of luck know that sooner rather than later.
It didn’t really matter for me though, because I was a mystery corporate customer. All I could have done was to go find another AT&T store, which would likely have been just as out of stock. So I waited. At one point an Apple Store customer and employee came up to the AT&T store and went into the store, at which point a riot nearly ensued from the line. We had already been told that we couldn’t buy a phone at the Apple Store and bring it to AT&T for activation. So seeing someone doing just that sparked emotions in many. Turned out that Verizon had some difficulty porting this persons number. AT&T basically said once the process had started at the Apple Store, it must finish there. I have no idea what happened to that guy.
Also about this time it became clear that something was not working well inside the store. I later came to realize that this would have been about the time the iTunes activation server fell down. It makes sense though, it would have been about 11AM and Apple/AT&T Stores across the US were now open and attempting to feed the rush.
When it came to be my turn there were only white 16GB versions of the iPhone available. I’d already decided that if it came to that, I was happy to get white. It didn’t really matter to me, I’m happy with any 16GB iPhone. I ponied up with the rep telling him, “Look, I’m a non-upgrade eligible AT&T customer, so take that into account.” It was about two minutes into this process that I realize I’d gotten the New Recruit. I think this makes strike three for me, but I wasn’t out yet, so who knows.
I’m not sure what happened, but the $200.00 charge I was supposed to have for my early upgrade has disappeared. Don’t tell AT&T. They should give it to me just for my trouble to be a paying customer. I actually chalk it up to the madd skillz of the New Recruit. Perhaps a store veteran would have ensured that I payed what I was supposed to. Click, click, click goes the mouse. Manager must type a password. Click, click, click, here is a reciept for $299. Seems some lucky AT&T client got a discount. I didn’t even have to ask. Thank you AT&T, it is pretty close to my birthday. You can consider it a graduation present too if you like.
One would think that when I left the AT&T store at 11:30AM, that this saga would be over. I would have a functioning iPhone and be one happy consumer. That was of course before “glitches” and the “iPocalypse” began. As TuAW put it, Apple was having an uncharacteristically “bad day.” Indeed.
When I left the AT&T store, I knew that iTunes activation was down, so I figured I could stop by the Apple Store for some freshly updated iPhone accessory goodness. Alas, even that wasn’t working properly for the Apple Store. They said I would have to wait in line (?!?) to even get in the store. Good thing I didn’t need to buy a computer.
So, I trecked up to Best Buy, who was more than willing to sell me some iPhone accessory love. Anti-glare screen protectors? Check. Rubber Incase Sleeve? Check. Functional iPhone? Shut up.
On the way home I knew full well that iTunes server hell was likely still in full swing, which meant one thing, Taco Bell.
After arriving at home I experienced much the same thing that somewhat less than a million people did, being unable to access my new phone or use my old phone. A mixed blessing I think. Sometime around 3:30PM my phone suddenly turned on, though iTunes could not sync with it. Eventually even that came to life. My final trial however was accessing voicemail. When I would tap the button, nothing would happen.
A call to Apple Support resulted in a non-functional answer: “Press and hold 1.” Which works on normal cell phones, but not the iPhone you nimrods. Finally I found an answer on the Macrumors.com forums. I had to dial my own phone number and create a PIN before my visual voicemail would work. Great. Thanks documentation wizards at AT&T.
That said, I love my iPhone. By far not only a great little portable computing device, but a superb phone as well. Perhaps the adventure made me appreciate it more. I do know that I have very little desire to attend another product launch in the near future.