Comments on: Smaller crowds line up for iPhone 3G S on first day

The turnout is noticeably less frenzied and the activation problems that plagued last year's iPhone 3G launch appeared a thing of the past.

[Mark_Anderson]

Why are the people in these photos always such utter tossers?

[garce1]

what is a tosser?

[Eddie-c]

British slang, akin to wanker.

I have a better copy of this pic - uncropped version where the two guys at the right-side have a thought bubble of "Losers". LOL.

[ikramerica--2008]

Wanker is british slang, too. What, EXACTLY, is a wanker? ;)

[The_happy_switcher]

The brits seem to have many more words for masturbator than we do. I guess that must mean something.

[Ellusian]

If they're that fanatic/trend-obsessed...they probably are part of the crowd that are upgrading from an expensive phone they bought just last year. That, my friend, is a tosser. Brainwashed into rampant 'cult of the latest disposable income materialism.' Sad. The truly tech savvy know how/when to buy-in and how to milk their investments: 1) avoid buying the first version of anything, 2) update/upgrade until the true next gen arrives, assess the return-on-investment, and THEN put down some hard-earned coin, 3) read, observe, repeat...

[hal Summers]

Want to see a group of tossers? Just wait until the Zune phone comes out. I'm sure they'll come with their own pocket protector.

This article is not wht The New York Times reported..

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/20/technology/20apple.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=iPhone&st=Search

[iFone-user]

cant wait till next years model!!!is there a line at Verizon yet????4G

[Iphone11429]

Umm. Verizon Won't be ready for the LTE 4G version next year. Maybe 2011

[ncalishome]

I've been waiting patiently for iPhone on Verizon since they first launched. I'd really like to get an iPhone but I don't want to have to go outside to make or receive phone calls, which is exactly the case where I sit right now. AT&T has a terrible reputation re:coverage in the city I live in.

[jusben1369]

It seems to me you can have it both ways on this new iPhone. If you're pro Apple you say "The phone/design was so visionary from the start that all it really needs is essentially a generic hardware update to justify excitement" If you're anti iPhone you say "Very few new and exciting features. This is essentially a faster chip, more RAM and storage space (ok, you get a compass and still lame camera)

I do agree it makes some sense if you're at the end of your Gen 1 iPhone and can get this subsidized.

[capernicous2]

I use a macbookpro which I like alot, but these are Macalittes with way more money then sense. These phones arent that much ($299-$499) better then last years model. With todays bad economy people need to be saving more and paying off bills instead of splurging like this.

[franzenk]

One of the best ways to get this economy going again is to start spending money. Not a bad thing.

[SiliconValleyJoe]

You make good points but:

1. They may have been original iPhone owners or switchers from other phones? So the 3GS is significantly better to them?

2. These gentlemen in the photo may have paid cash and are perfectly able to afford the phone, plans and a host of other consumer goods. Same can be said of many others who bought the 3GS.

3. Many people need a capable smart device to work, it is not just a phone. In some ways, it replaces their lap[tops. I know of two sales people from our companies who replaced their laptop with such devices. Both use BlackBerries and one carries an iPhone. The other is switching to iPhone 3GS.

There are many factors, hard to apply a general rule to everyone. Your points are sound though and do apply to certain segment of our population.

[SiliconValleyJoe]

Ugh! Meant to write two sales people from our company, not companies! Ugh!

[pme31561]

I sold my 16gb 3g on ebay for $300 2 days ago and I bought the 16gb 3gs today for $255 after tax. Worked out well for me. Only real cost was extending my contract for 1 more year.

[Perry_Clease]

"These phones arent that much ($299-$499) better then last years model. "

Are they better than the model from the year before last years?

"With todays bad economy people need to be saving more and paying off bills instead of splurging like this."

That is their business.

[capernicous2]

Buying too much on credit + too high gas prices = is what has gotten us all in this awful economic mess. It is still going to get worst before it evers gets better.

Quote: He reserved his iPhone ahead of time and with help from an Apple employee had his phone activated in two minutes. Last year when the activation process bogged down he was stuck in the store for more than two hours. .... This year, he seemed happy to pay and get out in <b>one tenth</b> the time it took last year.

2 hours = 120 minutes. 2/120 = 1/60th of the time it took last year.

[ericaatnews]

Good call. Thank you for catching the error.

[alexacker]

Thank you for catching this. My life is now whole and I continue on knowing that someone righted a true wrong in life. Get a life!

[carguy622]

Who goes around brandishing their new phone like that. Seems kind of lame. When I bought my Wii on the release date I put it in a bag and brought it home. I didn't wave it above my head on the way to the car.

[dan_heisel]

I'm going to start doing that with all my mundane purchases. Next time I visit Spatula City I think I'll wave my brand new spatula above my head in victory all the way to the car.

[Vegaman_Dan]

@dan_heisel

I hear if you buy nine, you get the tenth one for just one penny!

[DosEquisXX]

I liked their spatulas so much, I bought the company.

[dacopper]

Get back in line, 3.05 is coming out next week! And it'll only cost you another $400 to upgrade. What a deal!!!

[Vegaman_Dan]

It's tempting to stop by on the way home and buy one of these since the supply isn't in any danger of running out... but then I can also pick it up anytime I think without that issue. Eh... might hold off.

[ikramerica--2008]

Troll.

You won't ever buy one, so why comment?

And depending on where you live, they sold out.

[Sumladar]

What mess I see before me. I really don't want to pay a monumental amount for the new iPhone nor do I find it fair that AT&T is picking winners and losers to get the lowered prices. I bought the first generation iPhone, I bought three 3G iPhones, I have talked at least 20 people into getting the iPhone and switching to AT&T, I pay close to $200 a month to AT&T and I still deal with crappy/intermittent quality 3G service. I'm really starting to question why I switched to AT&T.

I went to the Apple store this morning to buy a new phone but as I entered the line I was asked if I reserved my phone and I said no. The Apple person said there were no phones for non-reserved people!? A lady in the non-reserved line said that she had been waiting since 7am just in case. I can't believe that this Apple store for the third time of a release cannot get their inventory act together.

I really love the iPhone but all of the associated BS around it is really starting to tarnish the core product.

[Eddie-c]

Since 7am "just in case? What a dolt. It's not like anyone will get the max 'uber-speed' that's been hyped anyway and many areas still have poor 3G coverage so the 's' is wasted. Still, if the estimate of 500,000 phones does happen this weekend that's a nice $200mill ... what a cash-cow. (Am surprised they didn't pull the adaptor change like other manufacturers have historically done)

[ralfthedog]

Apple can only activate so many phones at a time. Limiting the number of available phones is the best way to bottleneck the procedure. I would guess that new phones will arrive every day. If you don't want to wait in line at 7:00 AM, the backlog should be filled in about two weeks.

[ikramerica--2008]

Well, I didn't pick up my reserved phone (ordered one direct instead, but had already reserved one at the local Apple Store), and they do give them away at the end of the day to stand by customers (reserved does not mean it will be there Saturday if you decide to wait), but it's still dumb to wait like that. Just try Monday!

[muskratboy]

"I guess I didn't read the fine print,"

yeah, that big "2 year contract" was TINY, wasn't it? that one, right there at the top of the page. the first bullet. requires 2 year contract. yeah, fine print sucks, doesn't it?

the 3GS is a pretty serious upgrade, overall... so "not much better" is about as subjective as it gets.

video alone is almost worth the price of admission (for me).

[jdbnet]

I think the voice dialing is huge! I really missed that from my BlackBerry and with California (and other states) making it illegal to hold the phone while driving, having voice activation is worth the $200 for me. But then I am a computer consultant and I spend more time in the car than most people do.

I am however having some technical glitches. My iPhone gets the touch screen locked up some times. If I hit the home screen and exit the app (so far just in e-mail and contacts) all is well. I did looks edits I was making to a contact. Powering off and on did not help. I'm wondering if anyone else had this issue. Maybe I just got a bad unit.

- Jonathan

[ikramerica--2008]

With the pre-order and delivery on the 19th (mine arrived at 1:30PM), why wait in line? I was going to get it at the store until I found out that my reservation reserved nothing, I would have to wait outside at 6AM, and I might not get a phone after hours.

So I canceled my reservation and ordered for delivery instead.

Don't let the short lines fool anyone though. The FedEx guy said he had been delivering iPhones all day and basically little else. He agreed with me that they could have started delivering on Wednesday, as they had them sitting in warehouses next to FedEx distribution centers around the country...

[nhallan]

That rigth ordered mine on 6/10/09 got email on 6/18/09 . And received mine today at 2:00pm via Fedex and i am in west palm beach, Florida

[Ah_knaa]

"A middle-aged San Francisco woman buying her first iPhone exemplified the general attitude. She tried to pick up the phone she reserved Thursday night, but an Apple employee told her it wouldn't be available until Friday but that she could wait outside overnight to pick up her phone in the morning. Her reaction: "I said, 'You're kidding me, right?'"

Yeah like I'm really going to sleep on the fcuking streets for a stupid phone. This lady might be the smartest Apple customer ever.

[ikramerica--2008]

What part of Friday did she not understand? Thursday night is not Friday. Thursday night is Thursday night. How on earth is she "the smartest" anything ever?

Ahchew, you assume that all Apple customers wait outside like that. That makes me question your intelligence. Most people don't. There are millions of iPhones in use around the world, but a tiny fraction ever waited overnight for anything.

I would bet more people camped out to see Star Wars in 1977, but I'd just be making that up.

[kingpcgeek]

I got the second to last 32GB in all of the Phoenix area ATT stores at 3:00pm. All Phoenix ATT stores are sold out of the 16GB. Guy working there (Fiesta Mall in Mesa) told me one person camped out.

[kingpcgeek]

Forgot to add. 2 hours and counting and still no activation.

[ikramerica--2008]

Yep, activations are not happening. It seems. I expect it to happen in the middle of the night myself, when the servers have cooled down and everyone is sleeping...

[shellcodes_coder]

There are much better smart phones out there so why would any one want it? well you might wanna get it if you wanna look cool, that's it

[jeffgtr60]

"There are much better smart phones out there so why would any one want it? well you might wanna get it if you wanna look cool, that's it"

I beg to differ, I have a 1st gen Iphone, although it may not be as fast as say a Pre, outside of a 3G or 3GS it's the most usable phone available. My son received his 3GS today and had no prob activating it. Spend a day or two with an Iphone and then come back and tell us how much better the others are. It has zero to do with looking cool, to many iphones out there for it to be cool. It is just very dependable and truly useful unlike most of the other "gadgets" out there.

Good quesiton!..

By the way, The New York Times says there were many customers with activation problems:http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/20/technology/20apple.html?hpw

Not exactly what CNET is reporting..

[Lawn_Jesus]

Thanks to AT&T and Apple being idiots, my local Best Buy didn't even get shipments in, and neither did my local Wal-Mart. So much for a launch date, now I have to pre-order it, which they said it would take quite awhile for me to get my 3GS, in that case. Not cool.

[anilsudh]

Just pre-order from Apple. I ordered tuesday night and got mine yesterday.

[gachies]

<a href="http://ellumobile.blogspot.com">iphone crowds</a>

[AppleSuxLeo]

It`s no surprise...it`s a dud. Cnet`s own tests found the Palm Pre to be faster than it at everything but booting up !
Back to the drawing board Steve Jobs. iPhone 3gS twice as fast as old iPhone ?
Not ! And still slower than Palm Pre.

[ckh1272]

Speaking of dud, where do you get your information? The speed test was done using the 2nd gen. iPhone, not the Gs, so please provide some info. for once. You know, I saw a on the back of a milk carton "Have you seen my common sense?". At the bottom it said "if found, please contact AppleSuxLeo. I miss it so." Please, at least get a freakin' clue!

[AppleSuxLeo]

The test WAS DONE against the new iPhone 3G S And the IPhone 3G S was in fact markedly slower.
http://cnettv.cnet.com/video-iphone-3g-launch-new-york-city/9742-1_53-50073344.html?tag=TOCmoreStories.0

[shellcodes_coder]

dude, it's CrApple. So what else can you expect from them?

[Synthmeister]

AnandTech--who is hardly an Apple fanboi--came up with different results.

iPhone 3GS Performance: 54% Faster than the 3G, 11% Faster than the Pre

http://anandtech.com/gadgets/showdoc.aspx?i=3587

And it doesn't matter if the Pre is better if it doesn't sell. Projections for the Pre were around 50K for the first week. iPhone GS3 projections are somewhere north of 500K for the first week.

[ckh1272]

@AppleSuxLeo--I did see the CNET video and you need to consider a couple of major points. First, they stated up front that AT&T in San Francisco has not upgraded to the 7.2Mbps that the iPhone is capable of. Second--Even though the Pre was faster on the last two tests, the first test is the kicker. In the time it took the Pre to boot up, you could've already sent a pic email and loaded that webpage on the iPhone. Third-the conclusion that can be drawn from that test is that the network is the key. There are going to be places where one phone will be faster than the other and vice versa. Here is a link regarding speed over WiFi:
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/06/19/iphone_3g_s_faster_than_palm_pre_500k_sales_conservative.html

This gives a better indication of hardware vs. hardware. Don't let the source of the link fool you. It was done by an outside source, not AppleInsider. IMO, I think they are both pretty good phones with room for improvement. I do wish that both would have scrap the exclusive deals and worked it out with all the major carriers, but it is what it is at this point. Both of the phones biggest weakness is their choice of carriers IMO.

[AppleSuxLeo]

BTW , Sprint will have it`s 4G WiMax built out before ATT gets it`s 3G up to speed.
ATT is a farce.