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Written by David R Jennings
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Sunday, 26 August 2007 |
It is yet to be seen if AT&T can kill the iPhone, but they sure are trying!
The iPhone launch last Friday went well for Apple. Each Apple store was well stocked and their employees were helpful, enthusiastic, and knowledgeable. Many Apple stores actually lined up their employees to cheer each new customer and congratulate them on their purchase. When was the last time you got applause for spending $600!
But, as many of these smiling iCustomers returned home and began the AT&T activation process their iHappiness was replaced with iFrustration.
AT&T Scrambles To Activate iPhones,
And Quickly Falls Short Trying
Slow activation and hidden AT&T family plan charges were the most heard complaints. But others were just as frustrated with the slow AT&T network and spotty coverage.
Our friend Cali Lewis of Geek Brief TV was so turned off by the hidden AT&T family plan fees she announced her intention to return her two iPhones Saturday morning. Her latest Geek Brief update states that she WILL activate her phones, but so far AT&T hasn't gotten around to doing it yet.
Many online reports stated that iPhone customers were having to wait more than 24+ hours to have their phones activated. Obviously AT&T does not have an automated activation system capable of turning on the juice, and an unactivated iPhone can not even do non-phone related task like play music and videos. A more likely scenario is that AT&T is having one of their human staffed service centers do the activations manually. A smoke and mirrors approach to automating the activation process. Why else would it take so long?
An Unactivated iPhone Is So Thin It
Won't Even Make A Good Doorstop!
The Dallas morning news reported Sunday that most AT&T stores had sold out of phones by Friday evening, and only a couple of locations were left with the 4GB $500 models.
As I reported last week AT&T was a poor choice for Apple. Whether this fault lies with Apple, or the other carriers who declined the Apple iPhone is undecided. But if anybody can kill a good iBuzz... it is for sure AT&T!
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