AT&T Vs. Apple Store At the iPhone Launch

MBCook tips an article at Gizmodo that begins with a reader's experiences trying to buy an iPhone yesterday at an AT&T store and an Apple store. Many, but not all, of the comments on the post echo this reader's experience: Apple good, AT&T bad. "Day one revealed what all Apple aficionados fear. That AT&T, through the depths of its incompetence, could derail the iPhone."

Comments

Re:Apple ends up looking bad (er, less than great)

[Anonymous Coward]

Keep reading there jackass, the very next line reads:

Now that I have the iPhone, i'm as impressed as I hoped i'd be (and glad I bought three more for my colleagues), although it certainly could use some minor software updates (minor tweaks to the UI.. adding of buttons, landscape mode for the keyboard in other than Safari, etc)...

Re:Give me a break

[Anonymous Coward]

Um, clearly you have no idea how the whole release worked. There was ZERO activation in the stores; everything is done through iTunes. The only thing that was performed (and it was optional--could also be done online) was a credit check that all mobile providers conduct.

So precisely how can the AT&T 'monkeys' panic over activation?

Satisfaction

[HappyCycling]

I'm not sure what market everyone else was in, but in my small Tennessee town, it couldn't have been a smoother purchase. I walked into the AT&T store Saturday afternoon at 3:30pm, they had 4 8gb, 4 4gb iPhones in-stock. I needed to transfer my number form my dad's account (I've been paying the bill for the last 2 years) and possibly pay a deposit for a new contract under my name with my old number. It took me about 15 minutes on the phone with a transfer rep. and less than 5 minutes to confirm everything was correct (with no deposit) to get in and out. Got home, activated the phone in about 5 minutes; everything works perfectly with my new awesome phone. They couldn't have been more helpful at the AT&T store; looks like a case of YMMV.

Re:Apple ends up looking bad (er, less than great)

[The One and Only]

The "go to an AT&T store" was just a buzz-building maneuver. The entire quote, in context, was something like (I'm paraphrasing), "If you want to get an iPhone, you should go to an AT&T store. A lot of people are going to go to the Apple stores because they don't realize they're also for sale at AT&T stores, so if you go to an AT&T store, you'll have a better chance of getting one." That's just an attempt at a self-fulfilling prophecy (for vast lines at Apple)--and evidently, it worked. There were also vast lines at some AT&T stores, of course--Steve made the remark hoping to equally overflow BOTH outlets.

Apple's reputation is also more compatible with the "line up, stay overnight in line, and be on the news when the store opens" hoopla than AT&T's reputation is. By the way, the AT&T stores in Spokane, WA were indeed selling actual iPhones, although the AT&T kiosk in Moscow, ID was selling the vouchers.