• How Apple Could Have Avoided Launch Woes
I got to the mall at about 7:30 AM today. The store opened at 8, and my first meeting wasn’t until 9:30. I wouldn’t be first in line, but it wasn’t like I was in a hurry. At 8:45, the first customer to enter was finally able to leave. I followed him out.
At lunch, I decided to try another mall to see if the early-adopter rush had ended, as it did for the launch of the original iPhone. The line was over 200 people long, and moving at a rate of roughly five people every fifteen minutes. Again, I left empty-handed.
Why was it so hard to get an iPhone 3G? Sure, the original iPhone sold out early at most AT&T stores, and by the end of the weekend for many Apple stores. Even so, there were no lines by noon. What happened? What changed since last year? What steps could Apple have taken to prevent the mess this time? I have a few ideas.
No In-store Activation
The first mistake was requiring in-store activation. Last year, anyone could go in, buy a phone, and leave. No questions asked. This time around, Apple and AT&T required that every iPhone leave the store with a contract. This was enacted, presumably, to curb unlocking. A fair thing for them to attempt, but clearly, this is at the expense of the paying AT&T customer.
One Apple retail employee said that part of the problem was people not being “iReady”. In other words, showing up without being prepared with their driver’s license, social security number, etc. While certainly a contributing factor, this excuse rings hollow.
Even leaving the system as it stands, current AT&T customers who have iPhones should be able to walk into an Apple store with their AT&T bill, buy their phone, and activate it at home. There is absolutely no reason to force current customers to stand in line.
Fix AT&T Phone Shortages
Another Apple store employee said that they had plenty of phones in stock. Enough to get them through the weekend — at least — even if demand stayed high. Meanwhile, AT&T store employees are standing around with little to do, other than offer to let you pay for your iPhone now and have it shipped to the store “within seven to ten days, if everything goes well.”
Seven to ten days? The hell?
So AT&T stores are empty, while Apple stores have lines in excess of one hundred people. Every single one of those AT&T store employees was capable of activating new iPhones.
Improve and Stabilize Activation Servers
What about the iTunes activation server problems? Not only were many customers not able to activate their new phones, but first-generation iPhone owners looking to update to the 2.0 software were also left with paperweights (upgrading firmware requires that the device be re-activated after the upgrade).
While activating in-store is ill-advised and new, Apple has already been through launch-day headaches once before, and has had over a year to prepare for this round. Capacity should have been added, and because it wasn’t, not only does Apple face legions of unhappy iPhone 3G owners, they’ve managed to brick the phones of countless people just looking to get in on the fun of the app store.
Worst of all, many people found their old iPhones deactivated before the 3G model came to life, and with the activation process broken, this meant that they were only able to place emergency calls. That’s something, I guess.
Today’s mess is inexcusable. We’ll see if my luck is any better tomorrow.