Breaking: iPhone 3G launch turns into a disaster

Jordan Golson — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 09:21:03 -0700

Customers trying to buy 3G iPhones on launch day are running into a litany of problems activating their phones.

iTunes activations are completely offline -- a result of a "global" server crash according to former PC World editor Harry McCracken, who overheard an Apple employee at the Stonestown Mall Apple Store in San Francisco.

Gizmodo's Benny Goldman estimates the crash started around 9:45 am.

According to blogger Cali Lewis, speaking on TWiT Live, if store employees think you have any sense of technical knowledge, they're sending you home with the phone to activate at home. If you don't, they're keeping you around to try to activate in store.

Jamie Diamond, an iPhone customer at the Freehold Raceway Mall store in Freehold, NJ told me the store manager told anyone who was waiting longer than a few minutes for activation to go home and try from there. He told me that when he asked for a paper printout of the contract he had just signed, the store couldn't manage that seemingly simple task. An Apple employee tried to call AT&T, but the mobile provider required store passwords that "nobody seemed to have" before talking to anyone.

Harry McCracken spent a long time with a salesperson who "seemed pretty close to clueless... Rep seems like someone Macy's brings in at Xmas without sufficient training." McCracken was sent home with a sealed iPhone box -- but wasn't told that he had to plug the phone into his Mac to activate it. He was also given no information about swapping the SIM card from his old AT&T phone and simply incorrect information about incoming and outgoing calls once the phone was set up.

Further complicating issues is the main iTunes download link is currently disabled. Users must have iTunes 7.7 to activate new iPhones -- but if they didn't download it yesterday, they are currently out of luck. Even if the activations server worked, not having the proper version of iTunes leaves users out in the cold.

An AT&T spokesperson told me that customers at AT&T stores are being sent home and told to "synch the device later at home while Apple works hard to resolve issues affecting its iTunes software."

One commenter on my earlier story about Apple VP Phil Schiller's comments on the activation process had some harsh words about his purchasing experience. "When I finally got inside I weathered 2 hours of being talked down to by the 'geniuses' while they assured me that it as AT&T that was at fault, not Apple. Nice partnership. What a disaster. I am home now trying to active on iTunes and it still doesnt work. I want a refund."

There are also scattered reports of some stores not getting ANY iPhone shipments at all -- leaving folks who spent the night in line with nothing to show for their efforts.

Did you try to buy an iPhone today? How did you fare? Leave comments below, or let me know.

UPDATE - 1:30PM EDT: There are some reports that people are able to activate their iPhones through iTunes, but all commenters on that thread up to 1:58 pm say they still can't do it.

UPDATE 2 - 2:30PM EDT: Two commenters on the other thread reported connectivity starting six minutes ago, but one of the respondents says still no luck.

UPDATE 3 - 3:26PM EDT: Lots of commenters are saying that things are slowly getting back to normal.

More news, commentary, and predictions from The Industry Standard:

Special Feature: The iPhone naysayers, one year later
Prediction: Apple will ship 10 million iPhones in 2008
Prediction: 3G iPhone jailbroken within a week
Analysis: Independent gaming could flourish on the iPhone
Analysis: Why podcasting is failing

Breaking: iPhone 3G launch turns into a disaster

Jordan Golson — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 09:21:03 -0700

Customers trying to buy 3G iPhones on launch day are running into a litany of problems activating their phones.

Gizmodo's Benny Goldman estimates the crash started around 9:45 am.

An AT&T spokesperson told me that customers at AT&T stores are being sent home and told to "synch the device later at home while Apple works hard to resolve issues affecting its iTunes software."

There are also scattered reports of some stores not getting ANY iPhone shipments at all -- leaving folks who spent the night in line with nothing to show for their efforts.

Did you try to buy an iPhone today? How did you fare? Leave comments below, or let me know.

UPDATE - 1:30PM EDT: There are some reports that people are able to activate their iPhones through iTunes, but all commenters on that thread up to 1:58 pm say they still can't do it.

UPDATE 2 - 2:30PM EDT: Two commenters on the other thread reported connectivity starting six minutes ago, but one of the respondents says still no luck.

UPDATE 3 - 3:26PM EDT: Lots of commenters are saying that things are slowly getting back to normal.

More news, commentary, and predictions from The Industry Standard:

Special Feature: The iPhone naysayers, one year later
Prediction: Apple will ship 10 million iPhones in 2008
Prediction: 3G iPhone jailbroken within a week
Analysis: Independent gaming could flourish on the iPhone
Analysis: Why podcasting is failing

Breaking: iPhone 3G launch turns into a disaster

Jordan Golson — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 09:21:03 -0700

Customers trying to buy 3G iPhones on launch day are running into a litany of problems activating their phones.

Gizmodo's Benny Goldman estimates the crash started around 9:45 am.

An AT&T spokesperson told me that customers at AT&T stores are being sent home and told to "synch the device later at home while Apple works hard to resolve issues affecting its iTunes software."

There are also scattered reports of some stores not getting ANY iPhone shipments at all -- leaving folks who spent the night in line with nothing to show for their efforts.

Did you try to buy an iPhone today? How did you fare? Leave comments below, or let me know.

UPDATE - 1:30PM EDT: There are some reports that people are able to activate their iPhones through iTunes, but all commenters on that thread up to 1:58 pm say they still can't do it.

UPDATE 2 - 2:30PM EDT: Two commenters on the other thread reported connectivity starting six minutes ago, but one of the respondents says still no luck.

UPDATE 3 - 3:26PM EDT: Lots of commenters are saying that things are slowly getting back to normal.

More news, commentary, and predictions from The Industry Standard:

Special Feature: The iPhone naysayers, one year later
Prediction: Apple will ship 10 million iPhones in 2008
Prediction: 3G iPhone jailbroken within a week
Analysis: Independent gaming could flourish on the iPhone
Analysis: Why podcasting is failing

Breaking: iPhone 3G launch turns into a disaster

Jordan Golson — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 09:21:03 -0700

Customers trying to buy 3G iPhones on launch day are running into a litany of problems activating their phones.

Gizmodo's Benny Goldman estimates the crash started around 9:45 am.

An AT&T spokesperson told me that customers at AT&T stores are being sent home and told to "synch the device later at home while Apple works hard to resolve issues affecting its iTunes software."

There are also scattered reports of some stores not getting ANY iPhone shipments at all -- leaving folks who spent the night in line with nothing to show for their efforts.

Did you try to buy an iPhone today? How did you fare? Leave comments below, or let me know.

UPDATE - 1:30PM EDT: There are some reports that people are able to activate their iPhones through iTunes, but all commenters on that thread up to 1:58 pm say they still can't do it.

UPDATE 2 - 2:30PM EDT: Two commenters on the other thread reported connectivity starting six minutes ago, but one of the respondents says still no luck.

UPDATE 3 - 3:26PM EDT: Lots of commenters are saying that things are slowly getting back to normal.

More news, commentary, and predictions from The Industry Standard:

Special Feature: The iPhone naysayers, one year later
Prediction: Apple will ship 10 million iPhones in 2008
Prediction: 3G iPhone jailbroken within a week
Analysis: Independent gaming could flourish on the iPhone
Analysis: Why podcasting is failing

Breaking: iPhone 3G launch turns into a disaster

Jordan Golson — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 09:21:03 -0700

Customers trying to buy 3G iPhones on launch day are running into a litany of problems activating their phones.

Gizmodo's Benny Goldman estimates the crash started around 9:45 am.

An AT&T spokesperson told me that customers at AT&T stores are being sent home and told to "synch the device later at home while Apple works hard to resolve issues affecting its iTunes software."

There are also scattered reports of some stores not getting ANY iPhone shipments at all -- leaving folks who spent the night in line with nothing to show for their efforts.

Did you try to buy an iPhone today? How did you fare? Leave comments below, or let me know.

UPDATE - 1:30PM EDT: There are some reports that people are able to activate their iPhones through iTunes, but all commenters on that thread up to 1:58 pm say they still can't do it.

UPDATE 2 - 2:30PM EDT: Two commenters on the other thread reported connectivity starting six minutes ago, but one of the respondents says still no luck.

UPDATE 3 - 3:26PM EDT: Lots of commenters are saying that things are slowly getting back to normal.

More news, commentary, and predictions from The Industry Standard:

Special Feature: The iPhone naysayers, one year later
Prediction: Apple will ship 10 million iPhones in 2008
Prediction: 3G iPhone jailbroken within a week
Analysis: Independent gaming could flourish on the iPhone
Analysis: Why podcasting is failing

Breaking: iPhone 3G launch turns into a disaster

Jordan Golson — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 09:21:03 -0700

Customers trying to buy 3G iPhones on launch day are running into a litany of problems activating their phones.

Gizmodo's Benny Goldman estimates the crash started around 9:45 am.

An AT&T spokesperson told me that customers at AT&T stores are being sent home and told to "synch the device later at home while Apple works hard to resolve issues affecting its iTunes software."

There are also scattered reports of some stores not getting ANY iPhone shipments at all -- leaving folks who spent the night in line with nothing to show for their efforts.

Did you try to buy an iPhone today? How did you fare? Leave comments below, or let me know.

UPDATE - 1:30PM EDT: There are some reports that people are able to activate their iPhones through iTunes, but all commenters on that thread up to 1:58 pm say they still can't do it.

UPDATE 2 - 2:30PM EDT: Two commenters on the other thread reported connectivity starting six minutes ago, but one of the respondents says still no luck.

UPDATE 3 - 3:26PM EDT: Lots of commenters are saying that things are slowly getting back to normal.

More news, commentary, and predictions from The Industry Standard:

Special Feature: The iPhone naysayers, one year later
Prediction: Apple will ship 10 million iPhones in 2008
Prediction: 3G iPhone jailbroken within a week
Analysis: Independent gaming could flourish on the iPhone
Analysis: Why podcasting is failing

Breaking: iPhone 3G launch turns into a disaster

Jordan Golson — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 09:21:03 -0700

Customers trying to buy 3G iPhones on launch day are running into a litany of problems activating their phones.

Gizmodo's Benny Goldman estimates the crash started around 9:45 am.

An AT&T spokesperson told me that customers at AT&T stores are being sent home and told to "synch the device later at home while Apple works hard to resolve issues affecting its iTunes software."

There are also scattered reports of some stores not getting ANY iPhone shipments at all -- leaving folks who spent the night in line with nothing to show for their efforts.

Did you try to buy an iPhone today? How did you fare? Leave comments below, or let me know.

UPDATE - 1:30PM EDT: There are some reports that people are able to activate their iPhones through iTunes, but all commenters on that thread up to 1:58 pm say they still can't do it.

UPDATE 2 - 2:30PM EDT: Two commenters on the other thread reported connectivity starting six minutes ago, but one of the respondents says still no luck.

UPDATE 3 - 3:26PM EDT: Lots of commenters are saying that things are slowly getting back to normal.

More news, commentary, and predictions from The Industry Standard:

Special Feature: The iPhone naysayers, one year later
Prediction: Apple will ship 10 million iPhones in 2008
Prediction: 3G iPhone jailbroken within a week
Analysis: Independent gaming could flourish on the iPhone
Analysis: Why podcasting is failing

Breaking: iPhone 3G launch turns into a disaster

Jordan Golson — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 09:21:03 -0700

Customers trying to buy 3G iPhones on launch day are running into a litany of problems activating their phones.

Gizmodo's Benny Goldman estimates the crash started around 9:45 am.

An AT&T spokesperson told me that customers at AT&T stores are being sent home and told to "synch the device later at home while Apple works hard to resolve issues affecting its iTunes software."

There are also scattered reports of some stores not getting ANY iPhone shipments at all -- leaving folks who spent the night in line with nothing to show for their efforts.

Did you try to buy an iPhone today? How did you fare? Leave comments below, or let me know.

UPDATE - 1:30PM EDT: There are some reports that people are able to activate their iPhones through iTunes, but all commenters on that thread up to 1:58 pm say they still can't do it.

UPDATE 2 - 2:30PM EDT: Two commenters on the other thread reported connectivity starting six minutes ago, but one of the respondents says still no luck.

UPDATE 3 - 3:26PM EDT: Lots of commenters are saying that things are slowly getting back to normal.

More news, commentary, and predictions from The Industry Standard:

Special Feature: The iPhone naysayers, one year later
Prediction: Apple will ship 10 million iPhones in 2008
Prediction: 3G iPhone jailbroken within a week
Analysis: Independent gaming could flourish on the iPhone
Analysis: Why podcasting is failing

Breaking: iPhone 3G launch turns into a disaster

Jordan Golson — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 09:21:03 -0700

Customers trying to buy 3G iPhones on launch day are running into a litany of problems activating their phones.

Gizmodo's Benny Goldman estimates the crash started around 9:45 am.

An AT&T spokesperson told me that customers at AT&T stores are being sent home and told to "synch the device later at home while Apple works hard to resolve issues affecting its iTunes software."

There are also scattered reports of some stores not getting ANY iPhone shipments at all -- leaving folks who spent the night in line with nothing to show for their efforts.

Did you try to buy an iPhone today? How did you fare? Leave comments below, or let me know.

UPDATE - 1:30PM EDT: There are some reports that people are able to activate their iPhones through iTunes, but all commenters on that thread up to 1:58 pm say they still can't do it.

UPDATE 2 - 2:30PM EDT: Two commenters on the other thread reported connectivity starting six minutes ago, but one of the respondents says still no luck.

UPDATE 3 - 3:26PM EDT: Lots of commenters are saying that things are slowly getting back to normal.

More news, commentary, and predictions from The Industry Standard:

Special Feature: The iPhone naysayers, one year later
Prediction: Apple will ship 10 million iPhones in 2008
Prediction: 3G iPhone jailbroken within a week
Analysis: Independent gaming could flourish on the iPhone
Analysis: Why podcasting is failing

Breaking: iPhone 3G launch turns into a disaster

Jordan Golson — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 09:21:03 -0700

Customers trying to buy 3G iPhones on launch day are running into a litany of problems activating their phones.

Gizmodo's Benny Goldman estimates the crash started around 9:45 am.

An AT&T spokesperson told me that customers at AT&T stores are being sent home and told to "synch the device later at home while Apple works hard to resolve issues affecting its iTunes software."

There are also scattered reports of some stores not getting ANY iPhone shipments at all -- leaving folks who spent the night in line with nothing to show for their efforts.

Did you try to buy an iPhone today? How did you fare? Leave comments below, or let me know.

UPDATE - 1:30PM EDT: There are some reports that people are able to activate their iPhones through iTunes, but all commenters on that thread up to 1:58 pm say they still can't do it.

UPDATE 2 - 2:30PM EDT: Two commenters on the other thread reported connectivity starting six minutes ago, but one of the respondents says still no luck.

UPDATE 3 - 3:26PM EDT: Lots of commenters are saying that things are slowly getting back to normal.

More news, commentary, and predictions from The Industry Standard:

Special Feature: The iPhone naysayers, one year later
Prediction: Apple will ship 10 million iPhones in 2008
Prediction: 3G iPhone jailbroken within a week
Analysis: Independent gaming could flourish on the iPhone
Analysis: Why podcasting is failing

Breaking: iPhone 3G launch turns into a disaster

Jordan Golson — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 09:21:03 -0700

Customers trying to buy 3G iPhones on launch day are running into a litany of problems activating their phones.

Gizmodo's Benny Goldman estimates the crash started around 9:45 am.

An AT&T spokesperson told me that customers at AT&T stores are being sent home and told to "synch the device later at home while Apple works hard to resolve issues affecting its iTunes software."

There are also scattered reports of some stores not getting ANY iPhone shipments at all -- leaving folks who spent the night in line with nothing to show for their efforts.

Did you try to buy an iPhone today? How did you fare? Leave comments below, or let me know.

UPDATE - 1:30PM EDT: There are some reports that people are able to activate their iPhones through iTunes, but all commenters on that thread up to 1:58 pm say they still can't do it.

UPDATE 2 - 2:30PM EDT: Two commenters on the other thread reported connectivity starting six minutes ago, but one of the respondents says still no luck.

UPDATE 3 - 3:26PM EDT: Lots of commenters are saying that things are slowly getting back to normal.

More news, commentary, and predictions from The Industry Standard:

Special Feature: The iPhone naysayers, one year later
Prediction: Apple will ship 10 million iPhones in 2008
Prediction: 3G iPhone jailbroken within a week
Analysis: Independent gaming could flourish on the iPhone
Analysis: Why podcasting is failing

Breaking: iPhone 3G launch turns into a disaster

Jordan Golson — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 09:21:03 -0700

Customers trying to buy 3G iPhones on launch day are running into a litany of problems activating their phones.

Gizmodo's Benny Goldman estimates the crash started around 9:45 am.

An AT&T spokesperson told me that customers at AT&T stores are being sent home and told to "synch the device later at home while Apple works hard to resolve issues affecting its iTunes software."

There are also scattered reports of some stores not getting ANY iPhone shipments at all -- leaving folks who spent the night in line with nothing to show for their efforts.

Did you try to buy an iPhone today? How did you fare? Leave comments below, or let me know.

UPDATE - 1:30PM EDT: There are some reports that people are able to activate their iPhones through iTunes, but all commenters on that thread up to 1:58 pm say they still can't do it.

UPDATE 2 - 2:30PM EDT: Two commenters on the other thread reported connectivity starting six minutes ago, but one of the respondents says still no luck.

UPDATE 3 - 3:26PM EDT: Lots of commenters are saying that things are slowly getting back to normal.

More news, commentary, and predictions from The Industry Standard:

Special Feature: The iPhone naysayers, one year later
Prediction: Apple will ship 10 million iPhones in 2008
Prediction: 3G iPhone jailbroken within a week
Analysis: Independent gaming could flourish on the iPhone
Analysis: Why podcasting is failing

Breaking: iPhone 3G launch turns into a disaster

Jordan Golson — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 09:21:03 -0700

Customers trying to buy 3G iPhones on launch day are running into a litany of problems activating their phones.

Gizmodo's Benny Goldman estimates the crash started around 9:45 am.

An AT&T spokesperson told me that customers at AT&T stores are being sent home and told to "synch the device later at home while Apple works hard to resolve issues affecting its iTunes software."

There are also scattered reports of some stores not getting ANY iPhone shipments at all -- leaving folks who spent the night in line with nothing to show for their efforts.

Did you try to buy an iPhone today? How did you fare? Leave comments below, or let me know.

UPDATE - 1:30PM EDT: There are some reports that people are able to activate their iPhones through iTunes, but all commenters on that thread up to 1:58 pm say they still can't do it.

UPDATE 2 - 2:30PM EDT: Two commenters on the other thread reported connectivity starting six minutes ago, but one of the respondents says still no luck.

UPDATE 3 - 3:26PM EDT: Lots of commenters are saying that things are slowly getting back to normal.

More news, commentary, and predictions from The Industry Standard:

Special Feature: The iPhone naysayers, one year later
Prediction: Apple will ship 10 million iPhones in 2008
Prediction: 3G iPhone jailbroken within a week
Analysis: Independent gaming could flourish on the iPhone
Analysis: Why podcasting is failing

Breaking: iPhone 3G launch turns into a disaster

Jordan Golson — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 09:21:03 -0700

Customers trying to buy 3G iPhones on launch day are running into a litany of problems activating their phones.

Gizmodo's Benny Goldman estimates the crash started around 9:45 am.

An AT&T spokesperson told me that customers at AT&T stores are being sent home and told to "synch the device later at home while Apple works hard to resolve issues affecting its iTunes software."

There are also scattered reports of some stores not getting ANY iPhone shipments at all -- leaving folks who spent the night in line with nothing to show for their efforts.

Did you try to buy an iPhone today? How did you fare? Leave comments below, or let me know.

UPDATE - 1:30PM EDT: There are some reports that people are able to activate their iPhones through iTunes, but all commenters on that thread up to 1:58 pm say they still can't do it.

UPDATE 2 - 2:30PM EDT: Two commenters on the other thread reported connectivity starting six minutes ago, but one of the respondents says still no luck.

UPDATE 3 - 3:26PM EDT: Lots of commenters are saying that things are slowly getting back to normal.

More news, commentary, and predictions from The Industry Standard:

Special Feature: The iPhone naysayers, one year later
Prediction: Apple will ship 10 million iPhones in 2008
Prediction: 3G iPhone jailbroken within a week
Analysis: Independent gaming could flourish on the iPhone
Analysis: Why podcasting is failing

Breaking: iPhone 3G launch turns into a disaster

Jordan Golson — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 09:21:03 -0700

Customers trying to buy 3G iPhones on launch day are running into a litany of problems activating their phones.

Gizmodo's Benny Goldman estimates the crash started around 9:45 am.

An AT&T spokesperson told me that customers at AT&T stores are being sent home and told to "synch the device later at home while Apple works hard to resolve issues affecting its iTunes software."

There are also scattered reports of some stores not getting ANY iPhone shipments at all -- leaving folks who spent the night in line with nothing to show for their efforts.

Did you try to buy an iPhone today? How did you fare? Leave comments below, or let me know.

UPDATE - 1:30PM EDT: There are some reports that people are able to activate their iPhones through iTunes, but all commenters on that thread up to 1:58 pm say they still can't do it.

UPDATE 2 - 2:30PM EDT: Two commenters on the other thread reported connectivity starting six minutes ago, but one of the respondents says still no luck.

UPDATE 3 - 3:26PM EDT: Lots of commenters are saying that things are slowly getting back to normal.

More news, commentary, and predictions from The Industry Standard:

Special Feature: The iPhone naysayers, one year later
Prediction: Apple will ship 10 million iPhones in 2008
Prediction: 3G iPhone jailbroken within a week
Analysis: Independent gaming could flourish on the iPhone
Analysis: Why podcasting is failing

Breaking: iPhone 3G launch turns into a disaster

Jordan Golson — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 09:21:03 -0700

Customers trying to buy 3G iPhones on launch day are running into a litany of problems activating their phones.

Gizmodo's Benny Goldman estimates the crash started around 9:45 am.

An AT&T spokesperson told me that customers at AT&T stores are being sent home and told to "synch the device later at home while Apple works hard to resolve issues affecting its iTunes software."

There are also scattered reports of some stores not getting ANY iPhone shipments at all -- leaving folks who spent the night in line with nothing to show for their efforts.

Did you try to buy an iPhone today? How did you fare? Leave comments below, or let me know.

UPDATE - 1:30PM EDT: There are some reports that people are able to activate their iPhones through iTunes, but all commenters on that thread up to 1:58 pm say they still can't do it.

UPDATE 2 - 2:30PM EDT: Two commenters on the other thread reported connectivity starting six minutes ago, but one of the respondents says still no luck.

UPDATE 3 - 3:26PM EDT: Lots of commenters are saying that things are slowly getting back to normal.

More news, commentary, and predictions from The Industry Standard:

Special Feature: The iPhone naysayers, one year later
Prediction: Apple will ship 10 million iPhones in 2008
Prediction: 3G iPhone jailbroken within a week
Analysis: Independent gaming could flourish on the iPhone
Analysis: Why podcasting is failing