Blogging Roller

I'm sorry to say that I participated in the iPhone launch debacle yesterday. I wrote up the frustrating and somewhat embarrassing timeline for a buddy of mine. You might find it interesting, so here it is:

Friday, July 11, 2008

6:45AM I arrive at AT&T store at Triangle Town Center mall (Raleigh, NC)
7:50AM 33 people ahead of me, ~150 people behind me in line
7:55AM AT&T rep tells us that they have 15 iPhones, but they'll take orders
8:00AM I leave for Apple store at Crabtee Valley Mall
8:20AM I arrive at said store, line looks to be greater than 200 people
9:00AM The line moves and is making slow progress
10:00AM line stops moving for over an hour because "activation servers are down"
10:05AM I've got my laptop, so I sit down and start coding (w/free Apple WIFI)
11:30AM The line starts moving again. scoot, code, scoot, code...
12:50PM I stop coding because laptop battery power is dead
1:00PM I attend a half-hour meeting via telecon
1:40PM I finally get into store, Apple rep helps me
1:50PM Apple rep helps me, gets "IRU account not supported error message"

I call AT&T, they tell me that I have a special "flag" on my line and they are not allowed to remove it via phone, and I MUST to upgrade my iPhone at the AT&T store -- i.e. wait 5-7 days for delivery from AT&T.

So, I call AT&T again and get another rep who tells me that they CAN remove the flag over the phone, mumble, mumble and then my cell phone connection drops.

2:20PM Apple puts me in a special AT&T problem line
2:40PM Apple rep calls AT&T, gets them to remove flag
2:50PM Apple rep will hold my iPhone until AT&T calls me to confirm flag removal
2:55PM Cheers erupt as the customer who was 1st in line at 8AM finally gets activated
3:00PM I leave empty handed but with a promise that AT&T will call within 24 hours

I'm not going to try to analyze this; I'll leave that up to you, dear reader.

Update: Saturday, July 12, 2008

10:00AM Call AT&T to ask about status, they blame Apple for problem saying only Apple stores had problems yesterday.
10:25AM AT&T tells me they are now issuing a "billing ticket" to ensure that all flags were dropped from my account. They say I'll have to wait up to 4 hours before it has taken effect.
2:25PM Apple store won't test the activation process over the phone so I make the half-hour drive to store only to get the same "IRU account" error.
2:45PM Call AT&T from parking lot, they tell me sorry things are taking longer than expected, we'll call you ASAP. I drive home empty handed again.
5:00PM Call AT&T to complain to a manager about the broken 24 and 4 hour promises. He tells me problem is on Apple side and if I ordered a phone at the AT&T store everything would be fine (in 5-7 days). He says there is no telling when they'll finally clear the flag on my account, so just keep on waiting.

Update: Sunday, July 13, 2008

11:30AM Still no word from AT&T so I called them and they said the flag problem had been resolved. I asked how I could be compensated for all the wasted time they caused me, misdirection and multiple broken commitments they said "we're not offering any compensation for iPhone problems." The AT&T rep also blamed Apple for all problems and said I should have bought from the AT&T store
12:20PM Arrived at Apple store, got my phones

I bought a new 3rd generation iPod Nano (4GB) yesterday to replace the armband radio that I wear on my daily runs and to complement my old 3rd generation iPod classic. As you can see, the Nano is tiny so it should work perfectly for me once I get an <a href= "http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wo/StoreReentry.wo?productLearnMore=MB130G/A">armband.

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Here's old and new together.

I was happy to find that the new Nano fits in the old iPod cradle:

So far, I really like the Nano. It's the right size for me, it looks great and the UI works wonderfully. There's just one problem. It's flakey. I've had to reboot the thing four times in the 24 hours that I've owned it. I never had to do that for my old iPod and in fact, I don't even know how. To figure out how to reset my Nano I had to download the Features Guide (PDF). Here's how you do it:

1. Toggle the Hold switch on and off (slide it to HOLD and then back again).
2. Press and hold the Menu and Center buttons for at least 6 seconds, 
   until the Apple logo appears.

If iPod nano won't turn on or respond
   * Make sure the Hold switch isn't set to HOLD.
   * The iPod nano battery might need to be recharged. Connect iPod nano to your
     computer or to an Apple USB Power Adapter and let the battery recharge. Look for
     the lightning bolt icon on the iPod nano screen to verify that iPod nano is
     receiving a charge.

I also bought a Nano as a birthday present for my brother (that's today so Happy Birthday Dan!), so I really hope a software update will fix this irritating problem and soon. I'd hate to have to return these slick little gadgets.

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Ed Burnette: Shortly after the iPhone went on sale, hardware enthusiasts started tearing into them to see what made them tick. They found that the iPhone is using an ARM1176JZF-based processor, probably the Samsung S3C6400 that operates at 667MHz. This chip sports an embedded Java acceleration engine called Jazelle.

Now, if Apple can just get over its anachronistic “Java is heavyweight” beliefs, then small, efficient, hardware-accelerated Java games and multimedia for your iPhone could be just a software upgrade away.

Via Rafe Colburn I just found a NY Times article that confirms Apple will tightly restrict what apps are allowed on the iPhone: 

Steve Jobs: "I don’t want people to think of this as a computer [...] These are devices that need to work, and you can’t do that if you load any software on them [...] That doesn’t mean there’s not going to be software to buy that you can load on them coming from us. It doesn’t mean we have to write it all, but it means it has to be more of a controlled environment."

Controlled environment? You mean like a Java VM? Probably not. I suspect what Mr. Jobs means is that 3rd party software vendors will have to pay Apple for the right to  develop software for the iPhone, but details of that plan have not yet been worked out.

Sun alum Adrian Cockcroft lists some important but unanswered questions about the new Apple iPhone, Apple's sleek new phone-ipod-camera combo due out in June (for about $600 + Cingular Service plan). Adrian wonders "Is it open for more applications to be loaded? [...] or is it locked down?" and "what is the model for developers to extend the platform?" Rick Ross wonders why nothing was said about Java support and OSNews noticed the very same thing.

Josh optimistically points out the upside of "a real OS, real apis, and a real web browser capable of running real web applications - all delivered by a company that isn't going to fight us every step of the way." Yep, that would rock.

So what's the deal? Does Jupiter Research's Michael Gartenberg, who says the iPhone is "not extensible by third parties, only Apple," have the inside scoop?