My iPhone is a brick.
 

On my way home from work, I decided to swing by the Apple store in SoHo to see how long the line for the iPhone was. When I got there, I walked the length of the line to discover that it was ONLY one avenue block (the length of a medium strip mall, for you suburban people). I stood there watching the line and contemplating whether to get in it or not. Finally I decided to just get in and see how fast it was moving. To my surprise, I was easily halfway through the line 15 minutes later. Then, in another 15 I was walking through the Apple store.

Lines of employees ushered me and my fellow shoppers through the store towards the cashier. They were cheering and clapping obnoxiously the whole time and I was trying to figure out if people actually like that. It seemed like a stupid concept... you knew deep down inside that none of them were really THAT excited about standing around all day and greeting we sheepish consumers. The store was set up to welcome and process people specifically for purchasing an iPhone and it evidently worked real well. I got my phone quickly and left the store to more cheers and applause.

On the way home I was very excited. My wife sat next to me on the train and was excited for me. I pulled it out to impress my fellow subway passengers and turned it on to see if it had battery. The kids went "Wooaaahh" and I heard murmurs of people talking about it down the car. Yeah, that was a $500 "cheap thrill" but it was fun none the less. The phone was functional and fully charged, but only allowed emergency phone calls in its unactivated state. It was neat to play with the key pad anyways.

I was beaming with anticipation as I walked up the stairs to my apartment. I sat down at my computer, installed iTunes (ugh!) and began the activation process. After I had gotten through to the point where I had to wait for my old AT&T account to transfer over, I decided to show my new phone to my roommate. He wasn't impressed, but nothing could really bum me out.

Then, it went blank. I tried turning it back on, but nothing. I tried and tried and tried but it was dead, Jim. My iPhone was a brick.

I've been waiting on the line for tech support for a while now. My wife is actually doing the grunt work for me, listing to the hold music with my old phone next to her ear while she reads her novel. I write this now and try to not be pissed off. What happened? Why? Why me?

I hope everyone else who got their iPhone isn't having this problem. I hope I can fix it. At the very least, I hope there's one left at the store if I have to replace it.

damn.. that blows. I'm amazed though that with all the hype that it was that short of a line. I'd have felt stupid to be that guy who was online since 4 days ago.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...-waiters-3.jpg

even a video of him...

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles...ays_early.html

I happened to me in the local mall food court at 5:58 this evening, with an AT&T store adjacent to it. There were about 35 people in line at the time. Stopped by again at 8:30, and they were cleaned out.

They are very cool, but not for me because (1) I'm a cheap-ass about my cell phone, barely use it for calls, and (2) an 8gb capacity is useless to me; call me when in reaches 50gb. I'm not going to pre-select my music, I want it all at-hand.

However, if the 6gen iPod is anything like the iPhone, I'll be all over it.

You have to charge it.

Note: it was fully charged.

Anyways, I got to the store around 6:45, and the line had been moving very quickly. It had already been moving for 45 minutes. I bet the line was more than impressive when it first started out.

You've hit the Apple support website, right?

I'm shocked that it doesn't even support 3G. My guess is that in 4-6 months they'll come out with a second gen that supports that, has a few other bells and whistles, and they'll charge $500 all over again. :(

AT&T isn't completely 3G, it's the EDGE thingy... which is a major complaint for some.

I know, I have a Blackjack, there is a huge difference in speed when I'm within range of a 3G network. It is painfully slow when I'm far enough away from the city that I can't get it.

Bummer, Halx.

I would have camped in our little smallsville lineup for one, but phone as modem is mandatory for me. When they have that feature an get better net speeds I'll do it. Not that Sprint hasn't been dropping my data calls like molten lead lately.

Actually, the network speed isn't the only complaint. The iPhone doesn't support many basic features that one would expect for the ridiculous price.

The way the thread was entitled, and what terminology I know of for "brick", I thought that your phone was both over-sized yet also under-funtionalized.


After reading though, I see that by "brick", you mean non-functional. Is this right? :orly:

Correctomundo!

idk, I reckon Apple probably paid him a good rate for this stunt.

Maybe Hal tried to shoot hoops with it and could only hit iron?

hopefully they get all the bugs out and release one in the future with a much larger HD

I must be a dinosaur. My 4 gig Nano is fine with me, because I use it on a stairstepper, and I've heard too many stories of people whose iPod hard drives ate it prematurely.

I also leave my phone off a lot, because most of the time, my calls are from someone who want me to expend effort in their behalf.

Yes, I guess I'm antisocial.

It annoys me that people get so excited over that thing. Sure it's pretty, and it has some cool features.. But most people seem to buy it because it's trendy, as all new apple products are nowadays.
I guess I was very excited when the Wii was revealed, to be fair. But I don't think it's the same. Wiis are fun. You play with them in cool ways. But the iPhone is just a phone with an internet browser and multimedia capabilities, IMO.

No MMS, Video Record, or SMS.. but you can email :) It's got alot of things going for it but I decided i'd wait until the next version for UMTS and to see about reliability issues with the screen, etc.

Knowing alot of people who work for ATT I can say there have been issues with activation or them taking really long via Apples site, or invalid preapproved codes, etc. I can only assume due to the amount of activations? Needless to say one of my friends just got activated late last night so he wasn't too happy to be w/out a phone for 30 hours.

Hope you were able to get it straightened out Halx!

What? You can't SMS with an iPhone? I find that very difficult to believe.

SMS is the single most useful feature on any mobile phone (even moreso than the basic phone function).

I upgraded my years-old Treo 650 to the sexy new Treo 755p on iPhone release day. Kinda ironic, I thought.

Any news Hal? Got your toy working again?

I personally love my Treo and Nano. They work and I can do everything. My corp office won't support the iPhone and says there are currently too many firewall issues so they won't connect with the server. Plus, there aren't any software programs like Blackberry or Goodlink to interface effectively?

Roark is a little mistaken. You can SMS, but you can't MMS. In fact, here's a full list of what it does and does not do:

http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/26/i...first-reviews/

hhahaha wait for the windows version to come out

Apple needs to design it so that consumers can change the battery. There's no way anyone who requires a cell phone for business purposes can withstand close to a week of downtime when the battery is being replaced.

I imagine they'll do in-store battery replacements through the genius bar.

I really don't see battery replacement as a deal breaker for the iPhone. Network speed, storage capacity, and file management (.doc, .xls, etc.) are much more important.

looks like you aren't the only one... interesting that this is BURIED on the wired news page.

They said that about the Zune. Hahahahahahaha....

Sorry for everyone who's had bad experiences. My mother in law recently bought a Blackberry. She wanted an iPhone real bad, but it'd be useless half the time, because we get crappy AT&T reception in her house.

I just don't get the fascination of them. I never bought into the Ipod craze either. I'm sure with most new shiny metal tech fads, something will go haywire.

man if I was going to spend that much money it def wouldnt be on a cell phone lol

The iPhone is a sexy piece of technology but yes it does fall short in some areas. (removable battery, storage) This is why I'm waiting for the 2nd or 3rd gen before I even look at it. My main hope is that they actually go with other networks than AT&T. I do know that 3G support is in the works and should be available by late 2007 iirc.

I wonder what the chances of seeing this on a CDMA network would be?

Gucci: pretty slim, I think. I recall reading that AT&T extracted a 5 year exclusive deal from Apple. Seems like both companies gave a lot to make the deal work...

It certainly seems like the current iphone frustrations mirror the reviews I read of the iPhone: Apple rocks and AT&T can't keep up. Hopefully they'll catch up to themselves and get their service in line with the product.

With you all the way on this. JustJess and I get a sweet deal on our two phones + plans from Sprint (a result of being a longtime customer and playing the retention game), and there's no way I want (or can afford) to leave them now. Also, I'm not big into the "early adopter" game, especially when doing so would lock me down for 2 years. And if the iPod is any indication, v1 of iPhone is just the beginning - this baby's only going to get better in the next few years.

That being said...I stopped by the AT&T store on Friday night and HOMINA HOMINA do I want one. I was unbelievably impressed with the touchscreen.

I'm also hoping that Apple will finally update their iPod line and do a widescreen, touchscreen, bluetooth version before the end of '07...

A 5 year deal?? Bummer! I remember reading an article (or 12) before it came out and Verizon's CEO was pure trash-talking the AT&T network. He forsaw huge problems with their network. Looks like he was right. I was disappointed when I saw it was exclusive to AT&T, but I figured it would be out to other nets within a year. I guess it will be a while before I grab one because I refuse to go to Ma' Bell.

I just want widescree and touchscreen. I can live without wireless connectivity if those two show up.

this was a funny vid of this lady who paid $800 to be first in line, only to get just 1 ipod. The kid got one for free :)

I wonder if I can play with one at the Apple store down the street today.

Halx, is it still a brick?

My 'rent and stepmom, as well as most of my friends think that anyone who buys into the iphone thing are idiots, as well as money wasting fools.

As far as we can tell, the cheapest plan that you can buy will set you back at least $2,500 (including the initial purchase price of the phone) for a year.

Now there is no way in hell you're going to get your money's worth or get your money back even if you use the damn thing 24/7. It just isn't going to happen.

Barnum was spot on.

Walking Shadow, can you share your math on that?

Cheapest possible gives me this:

$499 4 gb iPhone
$720 12 months of service at $59.99/month
$35 Activation Fee
$1254 total cost for one year, including phone but not including taxes

You could add $720 more to get $1974 for 2 years.

I'm not an iPhone apologist - I've held off of buying one so far. I'm just not sure where you are getting your numbers or attitude.

You've got me on the math question, but I'm pretty sure the attitude comes from Apple's tendency to polarize the market. People tend to be lovers or haters of their trendy and elitist marketing image. In some ideal world where I didn't think Steve Jobs was a huge douche and the stock wasn't paying for my wedding and they didn't make a good product, I'd be just as happy to see it all disappear.

The iPod is far and away the best mp3 player out there, but even so I was given one as a surprise Christmas gift. I'm loathe to be without it now, but I wouldn't have plunked money on it myself. The iPhone is a combination of slick design and great advertising, but it's not the best equipped phone out there, nor is it the best value-two titles that the iPod holds in the mp3 player realm without a whole lot of competition.

I'm sure it will be successful because of what it is and I'm sure people will take design ideas from it, but I won't be buying one myself and will certainly wonder at least a little at other people who do.

I'm not going to buy one until I see improvements in the next generation, assuming there is one (and there will be). I need a bigger hard drive, lower price (from $399 instead of $499), using your songs as ringtones, and 3G.

Well it's 3pm on Monday, almost 3 days after I bought my iPhone. I've spent collectively over 3 hours on hold, waiting for 4 different phone conversations, correcting my rates 3 times and waiting countless hours for my phone to be activated. I'm told that it is finally ALL ready to be activated... I just need to wait another hour.

I hope this is worth it.

Here are the reasons why I bought an iPhone:
My current phone has deteriorated to a piece of plastic shit.
I need a smart phone with a mapping interface and email.
The screen is large for said maps to be displayed.
It's cheaper than a treo 750.
I already have at&t and their service is fine
Sometimes I don't want to bring my mp3 player with me
It's a nifty piece of technology

However I have not been able to have any fun with this thing.

Jobs is a gifted idea guy and motivator, but shitty customer service has the inertia of planets.

Apple has very high rated customer service. AT&T on the other hand....

Edit: Oh, gotcha.

Absolutely. That's much of what I meant.

Where have I been? You are married? Since when and what is her name?

Verizon's CEO told Apple to go fuck themselves when they offered to make it a Verizon exclusive. You know how much Verizon loves our money, so it can't be that profitable, most likely due to Apple demanding huge kickbacks on contracts.

Damn that sucks halx. I got my iPhone the day it came out. Took all of 10 seconds to activate. The one I got for my girlfriend on the other hand took well into the next day. ATT screwed up bigtime.

I don't think you will be disappointed. The more I use it the more awe I have for it. As far as the features it lacks, well ... I havnt noticed because it performs its primary functions so amazingly well (browsing, media, email) that everything else seems moot.

Hopefully youll be up and running soon!

Today I went to the apple store to get my phone looked at. It is a defective unit, so they will replace it tomorrow - I hope.

Hopefully they have some replacements in stock for you. Nothing but good things to say about mine. Posting from it now actually:)

Yeah, ATT has always been a volume-based company, so they're planning on having tons of people on it and using it so that despite Apple's licensing and use fees they're still going to be making money. I'd imagine that it (or things close enough to it) will make the round soon enough. If it is what Apple wants it to be, all our mobile devices are going to look like it soon enough.

I don't necessarily believe that myself, but whatever.

I wonder if iPhone 2.0 would be covered by the exclusivity contract?

Ok, even if my numbers are off, I was going by an article I read in Slate.com a while back. You don't include taxes, which is kind of unfair, so for arguments sake lets say that you go with the $1974 pretax number and add on another $50 in taxes for a total of $2025.

For a fucking phone.

I could give a fuck that it has internet access and you can download shit to it or watch vids or take pictures. Why anyone would want to watch ANYTHING on a vid screen that's less then 4 inches wide is insanely stupid.

But looking at it from another side, I could pay $25 a month for basic phone service, a landline, which I could use to access the internet, which might run me another $9 a month. That gives me a total of $816 a year and gives me $1209 which I can go spend on porn star escorts. Plus, quite frankly, being THAT connected to the Internet and such is deeply, deeply disturbing on several levels. Let's be seriosu, how fucking pathetic are you if you have to check your fucking email every 15 minutes all day long.

NO ONE is that important, not even President Bush.

Total waste of money.

Just pathetic enough to make sure my clients are happy and that I make plenty of money.

Well, your numbers are way off - by about $1200 since your post cited a year's time.

Also, $25/month plus $9/month is $408 for a year, not $816. Something may be seriously wrong with your calculator.

You seem really emotional and hostile about this... Why the hysterics?

he was using the 2 year figure that you put up in your previous post....so he doubled his landline number to 2 years

I'm not trying to bust anyone's chops, but I just think it is important to compare Apples to Apples.

Doubt it. Last I heard, AT&T and Apple are under the 5 year contract. So there is a slim chance that the next generations of iPhone will work with other networks.

Walking Shadow, your use of excessive obscenity (combined with the fact that you misread the post you were replying to) make you sound extremely ignorant. If you have an actual point, try to phrase it more intelligently.

Let's dissect:

And a Ipod. And portable video player. And a wireless email client. And camera. And web terminal.

So you're saying you aren't in the target market? You could have phrased it more calmly.
I watch movies and shows on the plane on my PSP all the time...it's screen is pretty comparable. Have you tried it?

Since you didn't include tax, I figure we'll compare apples to apples (no pun intended). Also, you didn't include dialup internet service, to access your land line, so we'll call that another $10 a month before tax. That makes the price difference $1056. To fully replace an iphone, with everything you'd need except internet connectivity, you'd also need a camera ($100) an MP3 player ($150) and a portable DVD player ($100), so that brings your "porn star escort" fund down to $353 a year. Good luck with that.

Even all of this is a poor comparison, because you are ignoring one of the primary features, the wireless web surfing, which you address here:


Reasons to be so fucking pathetic you have to check your fucking email or go online every 15 minutes:

1. Checking flight times from the hotel
2. Checking online auctions
3. Getting directions in cities you aren't familiar with
4. Approving pictures from photoshoots while you are meeting with another vendor
5. Snapping, annotating, and emailing quick pictures from the field to the home office, and getting their emailed responses

These are all things I would have used an iphone for in the last two weeks.

And yes, guccilvr's reason is also an excellent one. Blackberry's may still be slightly more practicaly, but an iphone is definitely a viable choice for a professional who needs to stay connected. In some client-centric industries, the image boost alone from having the latest technology is worth the $350 a year you say could be spent with prostitutes.

"For a fucking phone."

I pay a lot for the few luxuries that I do acquire. Why? I'm picky. Up until now, I hadn't considered a smart phone aside from the Treo 750 and the iPhone simply because their design and functionality was awkward to me. Sure, I could have gotten a simple phone to just make calls on, but I wanted more from a piece of technology that I have with me at every second of the day. A calendar, a note pad, a box score, a camera, a photo album, a music player..

Whatever my phone does, I have a space in my pocket that is specifically reserved for it. Why not pack that space with as much functionality as possible? And the price? Well I happen to have a nice job that allows me to afford it. That's why I paid that much "for a fucking phone."

I'm an unapologetic Apple hater. Most of my hatred comes from the fact that their stuff is horribly overpriced and the rest is their marketing (it bugs the hell out of me).

I do think that the price comparison isn't that fair. The service plan is overpriced by about $10-$20. Activation is about $20-$40 across the board so that is wash. The only difference is the initial cost of the device and although $500-$600 is a lot for a phone, it is not that much more than similar phones.

I think their biggest problem is that the corporate world is more likely to buy their workers phones that synch with Outlook. That and the fact that 8 GB is way undersized for the HDD.

Also, I hate exclusive deals but it adds to the snotty apple culture.

I got my replacement phone today. It works perfectly now.

awesome. I promise to not get BBQ sauce on it on Thursday.

Halx, your first phone wasn't a phone at all but the iBrick. How it got through marketing and research, I'll never know.http://www.freewebs.com/squitnditch/IBRICK.jpg

Well, the storage is quite phenomenal if you're comparing the iPhone to other phones. There are only about 2 or 3 on the market that I can think of, and arent half as capable as the iPhone in other areas. 8gig harddrive phones from nokia or samsung run about $800 or more. Yea you can get large SD cards, but most phones these days go with microSD, and microSD cards that large generally arent available.

If you compare the iPhone to dedicated mp3 players with actual hard drives and not flash memory, then yea, the 8 gig storage is very meager, but I dont really think its a fair comparison.

i second the wtf on halx being married- when did this happen, to whom, how did i miss this? Congrats somewhat belatedly

Bravo Apple, not only do you overcharge for that beast of eyecandy. But you screw over every single customer you have with it in about 1-2 years.

Honestly, 85$ + 29$ for a rental (which will be a empty phone) or 85$ + a WEEK with no phone.

This seriously should have been on the front of the box at purchase, I would be returning that phone right now if I had purchased one.

First they dont put a lot of the features on it, then the activation problems, AT&T in general is hit and miss, and now this.

You think Apple would have learned from the iPod battery fiascos.....

They did. They allow for 3rd Party vendors to fill in the gaps that they wish to not fill in. Apple provides service, which many Apple enthusiasts are willing to use instead of 3rd Party.

There is a whole marketplace/cottage industry that does that.

ipodbattery.com

I have less then no interest in getting an I-pod, in fact you'd have to pay me to get one. My portable CD player works just fine and I don't have to deal with the shitty sound that comes from having all of your music compressed as one does with an I-pod.

A portable video player? You can't be serious.

If by target market, you mean ....

Thanks to Shrub's administration, not only am I not allowed on a commercial airline flight, I'm not allowed on an Amtrack train either, so no I haven't. I also don't have the money to waste on a PSP. My PS2 works just fine at home, thanks.



I neither want, nor do I need a camera, so that's $100 back to me.

I mentioned the MP3/I-pod thing above, so that's another $150 back to me.

Same for the portable DVD player, which is another $100.

As for dial up internet service, I most certainly did mention it, but where I live it's included with a land line, they don't fuck you twice with your pants on.

1) You can't use the actual phone in your hotel room because, why exactly? It's not like it's a long distance call to the fucking airport to check on flight times or to the airline itself.
2) ...
3) Any halfway decent hotel will this thing called a concierge, who is a person whose sole job is to help people who stay at the hotel, whether it's calling an airline and checking flight times for them (See #1), making restaurant recommendations and reservations, giving directions (See #3), acquiring escorts/prostitutes.
4) Whatever.
5) So you're going to base a photoshoot around some shit pictures you took with a crappy camera phone? Whatever dude, your bosses must have REALLY low standards

...

DAYUM!!! we have a winner!!!

i can see why... :D

Curiosity dictates that I ask...why not? http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1003/rhlandis/huh.gif

Very cool, learn something new every day.

Iphone is a wanna-be Treo 650 / 750.
You could offer it for free and I still won't take it. It's not worth all the problems and frustration for it.

Maybe when the 2nd generation comes out, maybe them..

I don't see why these things are so important, unless you work for the CIA....
I have a cell phone with a camera and I don't even use that. I use my phone....to talk. I got new cell phones for the spouse and daughter, both for $79 each and they work fine. The only use at all I see for a cell phone with a camera, let alone anything else, is, like in the case of a friend of mine who has to go to accident sites when a utility pole gets snapped. He has to get pics of it to forward to his office.
When VCR's first became popular, they were $600 or more-now they're $5 at a yard sale. When CD players first came out, they were close to $1000. Now they're free with purchase of-----. When digital cameras first came out, the highest for the average consumer was a 6mp for about $800...
Boy, what I could do with $600....
I'm with Buddah. You could offer it for free and I wouldn't want to be bothered.
At least when those $79 phones go dead, I won't go ballistic. I'll just get another one.

Ok well I may be new here, but I just needed to say something about some parts of this. First of all, your arguing that you need not be online constantly, but your doing it online. That's entirely redundant. Secondly, hurray, you personally do not require a portable DVD player, iPod, or camera. Some people do. Sure we could all use our discmans, but lets be honest, they seem to weigh a metric fucking ton in comparison to a nice iPod. I have a 4 gig Nano personally, and without it I probably wouldn't be listening to music on the go. Plus, I am allowed on trains and planes, and there's no way I am going to spend an entire 8 or 12 hour trip twiddling my fucking thumbs, when I could be watching a movie or surfing the interweb. Save your opinions for yourself, don't try and project them onto the entire consumer population.

I think a lot of the criticism in this thread may be accurate, but it misses the point.

The popularity of the iPhone is about the interface, not the features. That's what drove the iPod, and it's a lot of what drives Mac sales. People talk about features because they are easy to point to, but I really don't think that ghz/gb etc. are behind the Apple mystique. Apple is good at making interfaces that people enjoy using.

For the people who are consumers and not technical experts, a great and enjoyable interface is solid gold. The iPhone's gonna be a hit.

I'd take one for free.

I think the iPod's success was a combination of a slick interface, a large capacity and a small size with all of the same or even more features than its competition. Compared to the rest of the market, the iPhone's only got slick interface covered.

I'm not saying at all that it's not going to be a massive success, but I don't think it's got the same stroke of genius that the iPod did and won't achieve the same level of success.

The iPhone's price is all about supply and demand.

I just got a phone with all the features the Iphone would give me for 0$ on a contract. I'm happy. (no touch screen or w/e but it has the mp3 player and camera etc..)

hmm, well about the only thing I can add to the convo is that it seems people are evidently misinformed about the going rate for prostitutes as well as the sex appeal of i-stuff.

for example, this $350 dollar figure for a hooker is not going to get one very far. Maybe get one in the door, but not to do much more than a handjob.

And I can get a handjob from any oversexed college co-ed all day long when I flash her my new i-phone. So that's a wash for me...


There's really only one empirical way to test my theory...Halx evidently needs to go back to the subway and see how many young, hot sluts will yank his pud when he whips it out...the iphone that is.

I think it's all about demand - supply doesn't even enter the equation. There could be excess supply and Apple might decide to sell the phone at a 300% markup because that's the amount of money they want to make - and they can.

Ironically there are a number of people who didn't do well on iPhone futures.
as far as hookers are concerned... $350??? where you going? there's $20 joints in the Queens and the Bronx, barely legal Asians and Latinas, take your pick.

as far as functions are concerned...

World of Warcraft on the iPhone

the only people I'd pay for sexual gratification would have to be of a certain quality...and a $20 bagwhore from Queens isn't going to do it!

As for where I'd be inclined to go or where I've been...I've never paid for sex but a few of my wife's friends are escorts who work out of LA or Vegas so I asked them. My friend also told me how much it was for him and his buddy when they called someone to their hotel. My opinion is that it'd take at least a few hundred bucks to get someone at least as good looking and clean as I could pick up for free from the local campus or bar scene. But yeah, "take your pick." :eek:

(although I am curious about these barely legal asians you speak of ;))