I Be 3G
What a weekend! For those of you watching at home, the iPhone 3G launched on Friday, and I thought I’d provide a little glimpse into my experience of acquiring one of these lovely beasts.
I had grand thoughts Friday morning of heading down to the AT&T store in the county seat south of us. I wasn’t sure exactly where it was, but I knew the road it was on, and even knew a handy back way from the main pike. However, as I discovered at 10 minutes before 8, the store was just a few blocks from the pike, so I spent 10 minutes looping around town in vain. As I drove by, I could see at least 50 people in line, and knowing how small a town it was, figured stock would be low. “Oh well,” I thought, “I’ll head in to the office, and see about stopping by the bigger AT&T store near the office later.”
Around 9:30 I drove up to the big shopping district, and found a healthy line. I decided to give it a whirl, and parked in the only spot I could find. Walking down the line to the end, I hear my name called out. A friend I worked with years ago was at the end of the line, so we spent an hour and a half catching up, laughing at the people in line, tossing out words of Mac wisdom amid the wild speculations of the crowd.
The Shirt from the store comes out (I later find out he’s an assistant manager from another store. No idea what he was doing there.) and announces that they are out of black 16GB iphones. A handful of people leave, and we inch forward. A woman ahead of us talks with her friend about how she has to get one today. The Shirt announces that they are out of 16GB white iphones. We inch forward. It gets hot.
Finally, around 11, The Shirt announces that they just have a few 8GB iphones left, but that we can place orders and they’ll be shipped within 5-10 business days. At this point, we’re within about 20 people of the door, so I decide to ride it out, and wait until they call it. The woman ahead of me gets more frantic, and runs out to her car to get some cash. She starts yelling out offers, first of $100, then $150, finally $200 to anyone who gets an iPhone and is willing to let her buy it - that’s $200 in addition to the cost of the phone!
The Shirt announces that they have 2 phones left. Ms. Frantic starts berating a teenager, trying to get him to take the cash, but he “just has to have the iphone too.” His mom shows up, and it turns out that he’s not even paying for the phone - she is (commentary on the lack of value of a dollar in today’s youth to come later), and she just smiles and says, “Well, he really wants the iPhone… .”
Ms. Frantic somehow gets into the store, and is yelling her offer. I’m expecting to see a couple of the guys bodily drag her from the store, but she gets a taker. The Shirt announces no more stock, but mentions that they’ve placed another order, and expect to receive more stock that evening, or at least by the next morning.
My wife and I were in the area that evening, doing some shopping, and we stopped by to see if anything has come in. The scene is much more mellow, like a normal day at AT&T. One of the reps says “We will have stock in the morning, but you’ll want to get here by 8:15 or 8:30. We’ll open at 9.”
So, Andrea and I talk about whether I want to stand in line again for it. After digging around online, reading reports of other stores and hearing about stock issues, I decide that, given our schedule for July, it’s probably going to be a month before I’m able to go shopping for phones again, so I’d better take advantage of a slow Saturday.
Andrea decides to go with me, taking a book and reserving the right to go somewhere to read. The line at 8:15 is about 15 feet shorter than it was at 9:30 the previous morning, so I’m feeling pretty good about my chances. Still, there’s no telling how many units they got in. A few minutes after I get there, the manager comes out to announce that they do, in fact, have some iPhones, and that they’ll be sending reps out to take some info so people can get prequalified - checking on if they are eligible for a subsidized upgrade. It’s already looking better than yesterday. Plus, no Ms. Frantic.
In all, I waited for 75 minutes in line on Saturday. No activation issues like they had Friday, slowing everything down. My number port took a little while, so I was in the store a total of 30 minutes. The reps were very pleasant, and it was generally a festive atmosphere - a far cry from the more feral, competitive feel of Friday - and I attribute that to the manager, who was giving people hi-fives on the way out the door.
As a phone, the voice quality is much better than my previous Treo 650 and 700p - I don’t know if that’s because of the network, or the phone. I’ve spent a ton of time playing around with the non-phone features. Maps with GPS is amazing, although it will suck your battery quickly. The integration of contacts, SMS, and third-party apps is very Mac-like. People call, asking our opinion of Treos vs. Blackberrys vs. iPhones, and I’d say that unless you have some reason not to move to AT&T, you’d be foolish to get anything other than an iPhone.
I’ll add iPhone tips occasionally as I find them. Happy 3G-ing!