Customers Rushing to get the iPhone

[Chris Kerrigan]

I was at 2 different Verizon locations on Launch Day. There were more redshirts in there than there were customers. They were all just huddled around each other talking amongst themselves since they had nothing else better to do. Its like when everyone loads up on milk, eggs, water, and snow shovels because the forecast predicted a near blizzard, and you only end up getting 2 inches of snow.

Granted, virtually everyone I saw walk into both stores were either purchasing an iPhone or inquiring about one, but still, I expected to see long lines. The "lack" of interest is sorta baffling to me. Especially considering how extraordinarily well it did in pre sales

Same thing in my local Verizon. I went in to pick up an accessory for my Fascinate and there was two security guards standing outside, a rope line, probably 20 employees, and 4 or 5 customers. It was kind of surreal, actually.

 

[biff6789]

Im pretty sure I read the iphone 5 will not be a 4G phone. It will have CMDA and GSM chipsets in it so it can be used by both AT&T and Verizon

iPhone 5 rumors: what to expect - Technology & science - Wireless - msnbc.com

I've heard the same about the iPhone5 having no 4G. What a shame for Apple. Two years ago they were top dog in the phone world... now they're playing catch-up to everyone else. Even blackmanx said that Apple needed Verizon more than the other way around. Otherwise Verizon would just "droid them to death" as they have already been doing

It's sad really: Steve Jobs loves to be the first to the game with some new technology (examples: cellphone camera with HDR, highest res display, etc..). But when somebody beats him to it (examples: Flash 10.1, 3G a few years back), Steve Jobs drags his feet and gives some lame excuse while trying to convince the rest of the world that the reason he didn't do it first is because the tech isn't as good as what he wants. I mean really, give me one good reason why he STILL won't allow Flash 10.1 on his devices

If he wants to do the same with 4G then the iPhone will surely become more and more irrelevant. In a way, I sorta feel bad for him, But it's his own fault

This is one reason why people are excited like crazy for the Thunderbolt, while only 2 people are showing up for Verizon iPhone launches

 

[blizz419]

they def wont be doing flash anytime soon probably never to be honest and in wireless tech there always behind when somethin new comes out 3G was out for quite awhile before they made the iphone 3G so yea they def wont have any type of 4G in iphone 5 not till iphone 6 or 7 or whatever they call them iphone 5S ? the flash issue is jobs complains flash is to buggy and a battery drain which is true to some extent & because it's not "open source" funny considering MAC OS is based off of open source code (UNIX/BSD) and turned that into what is probably the most "closed" desktop OS there is. But HTML 5 will most likely in time replace Flash but thats still a ways away

 

[biff6789]

they def wont be doing flash anytime soon probably never to be honest and in wireless tech there always behind when somethin new comes out 3G was out for quite awhile before they made the iphone 3G so yea they def wont have any type of 4G in iphone 5 not till iphone 6 or 7 or whatever they call them iphone 5S ? the flash issue is jobs complains flash is to buggy and a battery drain which is true to some extent & because it's not "open source" funny considering MAC OS is based off of open source code (UNIX/BSD) and turned that into what is probably the most "closed" desktop OS there is. But HTML 5 will most likely in time replace Flash but thats still a ways away

Exactly! But by then (iPhone 6 or 7), Apple will have fallen too far behind and it will be very difficult to catch up. In the last 12 months alone just look at the ground they've lost to Android. Are they seriously willing to go another 12+ months of releasing phones that are sub-par to all the Androids available out there?

It's unfortunate, Apple had the entire mobile world in their hands and they blew it. They won the battle, but it looks (as of right now) that Google is going to win the war

 

[blizz419]

Exactly! But by then (iPhone 6 or 7), Apple will have fallen too far behind and it will be very difficult to catch up. In the last 12 months alone just look at the ground they've lost to Android. Are they seriously willing to go another 12+ months of releasing phones that are sub-par to all the Androids available out there?

It's unfortunate, Apple had the entire mobile world in their hands and they blew it. They won the battle, but it looks (as of right now) that Google is going to win the war

one thing i've learned don't under estimate the potency of that Apple Kool-Aid there are alot of people out there that will buy anything with a Apple logo on it and will argue to the death about how it's superior. who else do you know besides apple Heads that will argue how less options are better lol

 

[biff6789]

one thing i've learned don't under estimate the potency of that Apple Kool-Aid there are alot of people out there that will buy anything with a Apple logo on it and will argue to the death about how it's superior. who else do you know besides apple Heads that will argue how less options are better lol

Fair enough. And you're right, there will always be those people out there.

But still, look at the market share Apple has lost to Android. Hell, go to the New York Times or Engadget or even Yahoo News when they have an iPhone story and look at the highest rated and most-favorited comments: all pro-Android and anti-Apple. People have figured out that there are better options out there than iOS.

I'm sincerely not trying to flame bait here either. I just sit back and marvel at the fact that Apple really had a chance to win the smartphone war, but they got too arrogant for their own good and ended up alienating a good chunk of their base by providing sub-par hardware - especially when they offered the already 8-month-old iPhone4 for Verizon with zero hardware improvements. the current iPhone offerings don't even come close to anything that debuted at CES

 

[blizz419]

Fair enough. And you're right, there will always be those people out there.

But still, look at the market share Apple has lost to Android. Hell, go to the New York Times or Engadget or even Yahoo News when they have an iPhone story and look at the highest rated and most-favorited comments: all pro-Android and anti-Apple. People have figured out that there are better options out there than iOS.

I'm sincerely not trying to flame bait here either. I just sit back and marvel at the fact that Apple really had a chance to win the smartphone war, but they got too arrogant for their own good and ended up alienating a good chunk of their base by providing sub-par hardware - especially when they offered the already 8-month-old iPhone4 for Verizon with zero hardware improvements

well they did improve the antenna and hotspot so there are extremly minor tweaks but i never picture apple staying in the lead look at the computer market they got there die hard mac heads that will buy there expensive computers that keep them going with plenty of profit but i don't see them ever gaining majority of computer userbase i see same trend with phones just took a few years for everything to balance out

 

[zshazz]

don't under estimate the potency of that Apple Kool-Aid

Steve Jobs unveils the iPhone 5:

I'm here to unveil a magical, revolutionary device. The iPhone 5.

*applause for 1 minute straight*

Apple engineers perfected a revolutionary dual core processor. Not only is it over three times faster than the previous generation, it consumes a magical quarter of the amount of energy.

*applause for another minute*

We knew our customers wanted more space on their iPhone. So now, they can enjoy a full 64GB of storage. This revolutionary increase was provided by the ingenuity of Apple's prestigious engineers.

*applause for another minute*

But that's not all.

*everyone cheers*

We decided 64GB of storage for your music simply isn't enough. So we invented iTunes streaming. Now, you can stream your full purchased iTunes music library from anywhere. This never before thought of amazingly magical revolutionary ingenious feature, brought to you by Apple.

*applause and cheering for 15 minutes*

Apple Fanboys later: HA! See, you stupid android idiots are left swapping your lame MicroSD cards while we have our music STREAMED TO US! That's something google is too dumb to come up with!

 

[CD1X]

Fair enough. And you're right, there will always be those people out there.

But still, look at the market share Apple has lost to Android. Hell, go to the New York Times or Engadget or even Yahoo News when they have an iPhone story and look at the highest rated and most-favorited comments: all pro-Android and anti-Apple. People have figured out that there are better options out there than iOS.

I'm sincerely not trying to flame bait here either. I just sit back and marvel at the fact that Apple really had a chance to win the smartphone war, but they got too arrogant for their own good and ended up alienating a good chunk of their base by providing sub-par hardware - especially when they offered the already 8-month-old iPhone4 for Verizon with zero hardware improvements. the current iPhone offerings don't even come close to anything that debuted at CES

This is exactly how I feel about RIM and Blackberry....Blackberry is a great platform...but the hardware they keep bringing out is LIGHTYEARS behind EVERYBODY.....its sad.

 

[biff6789]

well they did improve the antenna and hotspot so there are extremly minor tweaks but i never picture apple staying in the lead look at the computer market they got there die hard mac heads that will buy there expensive computers that keep them going with plenty of profit but i don't see them ever gaining majority of computer userbase i see same trend with phones just took a few years for everything to balance out

Yup, you're right.

I enjoyed our discussion, but I'll leave it at that. I wish to respect this forum's terms of use so I don't want to keep going and turn this into a flame war or anti-Apple diatribe (for the record: I do own an iPod Touch 3G, btw, and I do enjoy it).

Cheers, mate

 

[blizz419]

Steve Jobs unveils the iPhone 5:

I'm here to unveil a magical, revolutionary device. The iPhone 5.

*applause for 1 minute straight*

Apple engineers perfected a revolutionary dual core processor. Not only is it over three times faster than the previous generation, it consumes a magical quarter of the amount of energy.

*applause for another minute*

We knew our customers wanted more space on their iPhone. So now, they can enjoy a full 64GB of storage. This revolutionary increase was provided by the ingenuity of Apple's prestigious engineers.

*applause for another minute*

But that's not all.

*everyone cheers*

We decided 64GB of storage for your music simply isn't enough. So we invented iTunes streaming. Now, you can stream your full purchased iTunes music library from anywhere. This never before thought of amazingly magical revolutionary ingenious feature, brought to you by Apple.

*applause and cheering for 15 minutes*

Apple Fanboys later: HA! See, you stupid android idiots are left swapping your lame MicroSD cards while we have our music STREAMED TO US! That's something google is too dumb to come up with!

hahahaha that's hilarious and exactly the sort of things i expect.

 

[zenit#AC]

well they did improve the antenna and hotspot so there are extremly minor tweaks but i never picture apple staying in the lead look at the computer market they got there die hard mac heads that will buy there expensive computers that keep them going with plenty of profit but i don't see them ever gaining majority of computer userbase i see same trend with phones just took a few years for everything to balance out

I pre-ordered the iPhone and received one on Monday. Long story short, I took it back on Friday.

The RF on the Verizon iPhone is still terrible. At work, I could only get 3G connectivity near the windows of the building. For the first time ever on Verizon I experienced dropped calls and people complaining that I sounded "broken up". Again, this happened at 1-2 bars signal levels on the iPhone.

I have never had any such problems in the building where I work, and in the past I have used a Moto Droid, HTC incredible and currently the Fascinate. After re-activating the Fascinate, my RF problems mysteriously disappeared....

iPhone also lacks integrated gmail and google talk apps, which again was incredibly annoying, as i use google talk for communicating with alot of people, and constantly use search feature of the gmail app. I know there are apps for iOS that can enable google talk, but the ones i bought were unreliable and required me to give out my google account info to a 3rd party. Again, not very acceptable. Finally, there is no navigation built into the maps app, and the 3rd party navigation app costs $50 (WTF???). I can understand not having integrated navigation on the iPad, but a proper smartphone needs to have it.

I do like apple products (own and love using a Macbook Air and iPad), but iPhone was incredibly disappointing. Almost like iOS was designed originally for iPad and then completely castrated to be fit into a smartphone form factor. The missing features I took for granted in my smartphones made my iPhone experience incredibly frustrating.

I am going to play with the thunderbolt and maybe will buy one.

 

[biff6789]

I am going to play with the thunderbolt and maybe will buy one.

Another convert. Welcome to the fold, brother

 

[blizz419]

I do like apple products (own and love using a Macbook Air and iPad), but iPhone was incredibly disappointing. Almost like iOS was designed originally for iPad and then completely castrated to be fit into a smartphone form factor. The missing features I took for granted in my smartphones made my iPhone experience incredibly frustrating.

I do like the iPod Touch, iOS seems fitting for it and i have enjoyed mine but its not enough for a smartphone. iPad however i do not dig being just a oversized iPod Touch if i spend that much money on a device like that i want flash and the capability of being able to download things from various websites just like i can on a laptop which i'm not even sure if downloading from websites is possible on android 3.0 tablets

 

[teddeli]

Im pretty sure I read the iphone 5 will not be a 4G phone. It will have CMDA and GSM chipsets in it so it can be used by both AT&T and Verizon

iPhone 5 rumors: what to expect - Technology & science - Wireless - msnbc.com

I am more interested in the world phone aspect. 4G is not such a big deal for me.

 

[zenit#AC]

I do like the iPod Touch, iOS seems fitting for it and i have enjoyed mine but its not enough for a smartphone. iPad however i do not dig being just a oversized iPod Touch if i spend that much money on a device like that i want flash and the capability of being able to download things from various websites just like i can on a laptop which i'm not even sure if downloading from websites is possible on android 3.0 tablets

In my opinion, flash is an absolutely horrible creation that needs to die as quickly as possible. I am not a fan of steve jobs, but i completely agree with him when it comes to flash.

For years (before the time Jobs came out to be super anti-flash), I refused to install the flash player on any of my computers. It always ended up crashing and made it possible for obnoxious adds to be animated. Noways, I use Google Chrome browser with flash blocker plugins on all of the computers that i own. Not surprisingly, with no flash installed i get much better battery life on both my PC and OSX laptops.

When it comes to phones, the first thing I did when 2.2 came out on the incredible is to make sure there was no Flash player anywhere on the phone. And sure enough, after disabling it, the browser scrolling became alot smoother.

I still havent encountered a website that I usually visit that requires flash.

You are, however completely correct regarding saving files. The lack of a proper file system is biggest drawback of the ipad. Have to use go-arounds such as Dropbox for managing files, making is super infuriating.

 

[blizz419]

In my opinion, flash is an absolutely horrible creation that needs to die as quickly as possible. I am not a fan of steve jobs, but i completely agree with him when it comes to flash.

For years (before the time Jobs came out to be super anti-flash), I refused to install the flash player on any of my computers. It always ended up crashing and made it possible for obnoxious adds to be animated. Noways, I use Google Chrome browser with flash blocker plugins on all of the computers that i own. Not surprisingly, with no flash installed i get much better battery life on both my PC and OSX laptops.

When it comes to phones, the first thing I did when 2.2 came out on the incredible is to make sure there was no Flash player anywhere on the phone. And sure enough, after disabling it, the browser scrolling became alot smoother.

I still havent encountered a website that I usually visit that requires flash.

You are, however completely correct regarding saving files. The lack of a proper file system is biggest drawback of the ipad. Have to use go-arounds such as Dropbox for managing files, making is super infuriating.

while i def agree there are many problems with flash though i haven't had the amount of problems with it you seem to of had it's the point of having the "option" to use flash especially with it's strong online presence, while forcing flash on people would not be a good idea they should def give the user the option to make that decision themselves

 

[anon(157335)]

while i def agree there are many problems with flash though i haven't had the amount of problems with it you seem to of had it's the point of having the "option" to use flash especially with it's strong online presence, while forcing flash on people would not be a good idea they should def give the user the option to make that decision themselves

Is approving Flash on a site-by-site basis a possibility in Android, whether as a built-in option or via a third-party app?

 

[Joelist]

Flash I have no issue with on my X, and configuring it is possible.

Downloading files I can easily do on my Android (heck I could even do that way back on Win Mobile and BB). The lack of a properly exposed filesystem is a BIG Apple failing.

 

[blizz419]

i have no idea that would be cool though i just meant option of enabling it or not site by site would be pretty nice though if they dont maybe that idea could interest any of these dev's