On the Prowl for an iPhone: Quite an Odyssey
June 24 was the day that the iPhone 4.0 was officially released in the United States. I wanted to experience a "first-day" release of a product and decided to see what it is like. It was, to say the least, an adventure.
When I first went out to try and get it, the servers were overwhelmed. I was able to get around it through getting into my iTunes account. I was able to figure this out thanks to one forthcoming Apple Store employee. The customer-centric focus of the team there blew me away.
When I got there, there was already quite a line. I was in the reserved line..and it was not as bad to those who had lined up to Purchase. The American Free Enterprise Spirit was alive and well, though. Some folks had gotten there the night before. People were walking around selling their spot for $ 60. Some were selling it as high as $100. I suppose if you were pressed for time, it was worth the Some got there at 9 PM the night before. This was not as bad as one out in Dallas who had camped out a week before to be the first one who got it.
So it began the day!!!
During the day, I was talking with people on the line. One of the folks in line was talking about bids on EBay for reservations going up to 800 Dollars. This was just crazy!!! What I marveled at was how Steve Jobs was able to pull people in and keep people's fascination on the gadgets. He is a genius at understanding what people want and how to make it as simple as possible.
What is clear is that people continue to be hooked on Gadgets. I have to wonder whether it was worth the six hours spent online. I suppose it was. We'll see, though.
When I first went out to try and get it, the servers were overwhelmed. I was able to get around it through getting into my iTunes account. I was able to figure this out thanks to one forthcoming Apple Store employee. The customer-centric focus of the team there blew me away.
When I got there, there was already quite a line. I was in the reserved line..and it was not as bad to those who had lined up to Purchase. The American Free Enterprise Spirit was alive and well, though. Some folks had gotten there the night before. People were walking around selling their spot for $ 60. Some were selling it as high as $100. I suppose if you were pressed for time, it was worth the Some got there at 9 PM the night before. This was not as bad as one out in Dallas who had camped out a week before to be the first one who got it.
During the day, I was talking with people on the line. One of the folks in line was talking about bids on EBay for reservations going up to 800 Dollars. This was just crazy!!! What I marveled at was how Steve Jobs was able to pull people in and keep people's fascination on the gadgets. He is a genius at understanding what people want and how to make it as simple as possible.
What is clear is that people continue to be hooked on Gadgets. I have to wonder whether it was worth the six hours spent online. I suppose it was. We'll see, though.
Mike Pouraryan
