Most successful product launch ever...
Only in terms of numbers.
I have a hard time being enthusiastic about it from where I sit.
I knew that I would not have the time to camp out over-night at an apple store, or wherever... because I have work to do. So, I pre-ordered. It took all day on June 15th, and I got bumped to the June 2nd shipping group. I also opted to buy a bumper case, to keep the phone a bit safer, which now I hear, they are GIVING away, if they have any in stock.
My iPhone still hasn't shipped, and nobody has any stock. So much for beating the bushes on the first pre-order day, but I suppose it could be worse.
My case has shipped, and has already missed it's fed-ex tracking delivery date, with no scanned activity since the morning of the 24th, now 4+ days ago. It is in the ether, and already charged to my account. Not gratis like some folks are receiving, and not arrived by the date it was supposed to. yippee. I hope it isn't just gone, so that I don't have to wrangle with Apple and FedEx about it, or worry about my phone shipping via the same carrier coming to the same lack of delivery.
My apple order staus says the phone still won't ship for another week, but who knows.
And I have a possibly functionality-compromised device to now look forward to, due to basic RF design theory not being heeded. Luckily I plan on keeping it in a case, and use it more for a portable internet device, than a phone, so it's other amazing functionality will be primary, and the case might help avoid antenna issues. I hope that maybe being a later build, necessitating a shipping delay, will mean that somehow, when my iPhone does arrive, it will be in good working order, and the antenna issue will be somehow less likely, like those who report that they aren't having the signal strength loss issue.
For my work, I will be ordering probably nearly 100 MacBook Pro laptops, later this summer. I hope they will be handled better than this. They have been handled better than this in the past.
I am glad they got such huge numbers, but I hope they don't drop the ball much more than the delays and stock issues they are currently having. Some of what has happened is understandable and forgiveable... but it is becoming a thin margin between this and unacceptable.
They claimied this phone was going to be as important as the initial iPhone was, by being such an improvement. they should have been on top of the antenna issue ("You're holding it wrong" is not an acceptable response, and horrible PR. "We're working on it" would have been somewhat understandable.)
If they claimed that the iPhone 4 is so much better than previous iterations, they should have been prepared better for a high demand level, even if 1.7M units is a surprise. THey knew that the 3G was hotter demand than the original, and that 3GS again sold a lot of units on it's introduction, and it was not a complete revision of the whole device. They should have been prepared for more response than the 3GS, and 600K pre-orders should not have crashed the system, and 1.7M sales should not knock out the supply chain for a week at least after the first release day, even if there were some spots of back-order here and there.
No doubt the demand was surprising. But preparation could have been better than it was on pre-order day, and release day, and shortly after both occasions.
I sure hope that the benefits of this new phone are as good as they say, after all this waiting, the supply break-down delays, and hysteria over the new features, and also the discovered shortcoming on the antennas, and other issues that people have noticed. If I didn't think the benefits would be worth the wait, I would already have cancelled my order. I hope my optimism isn't misplaced. I am beginning to wonder.
