Crowds Pack D.C. Area Stores for First Bite at Apple's Latest, Fastest iPhone
|
TOOLBOX
   Resize
COMMENT
 Discussion Policy
 CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Who's Blogging  |
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Another summer, another iPhone -- and another set of long lines.
Some Washington area Apple stores had crowds of more than 100 people yesterday morning as customers clamored to pick up the latest iPhone, the 3G S.
It operates faster than its predecessors and lets users record video clips that they can upload directly to YouTube with new voice command features. But as it turns out, the crowds could have skipped the lines this time around.
While previous versions of the phone have quickly sold out, the Clarendon, Tysons Corner, Pentagon City and Montgomery Mall stores said yesterday afternoon that the device was still in stock.
This summer's rollout of the popular smartphone went considerably smoother than last year's. Last July, Apple's servers and its iTunes store ground to a halt as new customers tried to activate their phones at the same time existing customers tried to download the latest iPhone software. The debacle left many without the use of their phones -- and stuck in store lines for hours -- while Apple scrambled to fix the problem.
This year, Apple released the latest version of the iPhone operating system a few days before releasing the latest version of the phone, a move perhaps intended to reduce traffic on Apple's servers. Still, some new iPhone owners reported, via Twitter, that they weren't able to activate their phones yesterday. Some reported getting an error message saying that it might be 48 hours before they can use their new iPhone.
To keep the crowds appeased as they waited yesterday morning, Apple staffers at stores in Clarendon, Montgomery Mall and Tysons Corner gave out coffee, bottles of water and doughnuts.
The refreshments may not have been necessary. Even though there were 100 or so people already waiting at the Tysons Corner Apple store when he arrived at 7 a.m., local iPhone software developer Todd Moore said that he waited in line just a half hour to get the new phone. The Clarendon Apple store had a similar turnout.
So far, Moore gives the latest iPhone a thumbs up. He said he spent the day trying out the new features, and uploading video clips and his impressions of the device to his Facebook page.
"I predict YouTube going under from iPhone video submissions," he joked.
