My Internet Spot

iPhone part 2.0… Queue frenzy!

So, the new iPhone is out today. As existing owners definitely know, 90% of the benefits in the new phone lie within the new software. However, there is this one little thing that makes the new iPhone more appealing... 3G. 16GB of storage is also a good incentive to switch.  Yes, the existing iPhone is adequately fast, but faster is always better... Also as described in the economics behind iPhone here, the new iPhone is free on selected tariffs (even though it ends up being more expensive in the long run than paying up-front) and that will definitely lure a lot of iPhone wanna-be's that could simply not afford the original phone. So, out of curiosity I popped down my local O2 and Carphone Warehouse store to see what was happening...

Despite being there at 7.45, the queue in the O2 store was extending past the corner of the block. See for yourselves:

If you have any common sense, three are the key questions to ask yourself before queuing:

1. How many people are there? Answer: Roughly 50.
2. OK, so how many phones are there? Answer: As O2 said, a couple of dozens, i.e. 20 to 30? Max 40?
3. So lets assume they have more. How many of them are the 16GB version? (I wouldn't upgrade 8GB and pay for it just for the 3G...)? Answer: Noone knows, but I assume around 1/3 of the phones, so roughly 10.

The math didn't look that good so I headed off. But it makes you wonder, what the heck are all these knobs doing at the queue when the reality is that they wont get a phone today?

Testing my luck, I've decided to drop by the Carphone Warehouse around the corner. Less people, around 20. So, lets queue here, better chances. However, it was already 8:15 and I had to go to work by 9:00... In the 10 minutes I've waited, none of the 5 customers that were in-store completed the contract. The process was taking to long and I'm definatelly not a queue person (I still remember jumping the two blocks queue when purchasing Leopard last year.. hehe). So I went inside and asked how many phones they got. Answer? Sixteen 8GB and four 16 GB, with all the 16GB being sold out... So waiting was over and was off  to work!

However, being an existing iPhone user I've managed to get the new software yesterday on the phone. And its fair to say that 90% of the new iPhone is the software. So existing iPhone users, don't be a knob and waste your time in the stores today, you wont find any phones and it probably is not worth upgrading as it will cost you... Moreover, what sort of business practice is having customers waiting but not products to sell them... So much lost profit for Apple. So you are able to use all the new features of the new phone now and that will probably make you think twice before opting in for an upgrade.

A little poll for today:

Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment.

Watch this space for more on the new software after I play with it for a couple of days.

Update:

Apparently according to later reports the activation server crashed and the process took over 90 minutes per customer... So a day off work to buy the iPhone? Or a very mad manager