Apple Posts Details for iPhone 3G Launch

[izzle22]

Personally I would rather go to an Apple store than an AT&T store because the fanfare and excitement of waiting for the doors to open will be much more exciting at the Apple store. According to the experiences people had last year the AT&T stores were understocked while most of the Apple stores had plenty to go around. Logistically speaking the Apple store is way more convenient for me to get to than the AT&T store. It's gonna be an early morning either way so instead of being crabby in line at the AT&T store I'd rather be happily surrounded by Apple enthusiasts

Pwned

Nice Answer!

 

[infowarfare]

wow, it's turning out to be such a PITA to get a phone. Why they couldn't made something simpler, i'd say rebate you buy one for $600 and than get a rebate for $400 when you activated with att, could be so much easier and less crowed.

Jobs failed twice:

1) We want to be green, that's why we are switching to plastic
2) We want to simplify process of getting new phone, now you can do it at home, but now you for some reason it's get back to annoying process.

it's like he has "two face"

Jobs didn't fail. The reason the process is more complicated now is because of all the Jailbreakers the first time around. This new process ensures that anyone buying an iPhone is activating a contract in-store. If they [jailbreakers] take it home and try to cancel before 30 days, they won't be able to until they return the iPhone itself; after 30 days, they pay the early termination fee.

So you can thank the jailbreakers for making this process such a mess this time around.

Agreed. This is a pet peeve of mine. There is one and only one legitimate use for a SSN, and that's so you can be identified upon retirement and awarded your social security accordingly. But that has spilled over to the RMV, and banks, and then to other financial institutions, and now every company out there these days thinks it's entitled to your SSN every time you sign up with them for anything. Utilities, cable internet, cell phones, you name it.

A word of advice. None of these companies, including apple and AT&T, need your SSN. Don't believe them when they tell you they do. It's a lie. Moreover, the more times you give it out, the greater the risk you place yourself at. I know this might sound paranoid, but think about how many places that number lives by now. And if some crook steals it, it's not like losing a credit card. They can wreck your life with that number, and it can take years to sort out.

Don't buy in to this crap. Just say no to giving out your SSN.

I agree but, if you refuse to give them your SSN, they can just as easily refuse to sell you that product... they DO have that right [to refuse to sell to you.]

 

[Emulsion]

What if you don't have a credit card? Could I co-sign with someone?

I'm 18. I should probably get one anyways, to build credit. But what if I get a credit card, and have no credit, will they deny me?

 

[snberk103]

What do other countries use?

In Canada, we use Social Insurance Numbers (SIN) as a government ID #. Supposed to be used by HRSDC and RevCan only, and banks so they can report interest to RevCan. In the USA they use Social Security Numbers (SSN) as a government ID #. Supposed to be used only to provide government services, from what I'm reading here.

What do you Brits, Aussies, etc etc use as a government ID number?

Oh, and I will NOT be getting an iPhone. Way too much money (thanks Rogers) and not enough coverage where I live.

Cheers from the Far Left Coast....

 

[SAMTATSICPRO]

Don't hate me because I'm an obscessive, compulsive, fiercely over-protective, coveting, materialistic son of a gun, but let me see if I've got this straight...

SOME 20-SOMETHING YEAR OLD CHICK OR DUDE WHO HAS LITTLE TO NO REGARD FOR THE SANCTITY OF OTHER PEOPLES' PROPERTY...AND WHO WILL UNDOUBTEDLY BE WEARING ABRASIVE JEWELRY ON EACH FINGER...AND WHO WILL MOST ASSUREDLY BE TOSSING YOUR NEW IPHONE AROUND AND LAYING IT PLASTIC BACK-SIDE DOWN ON THE COUNTERTOP DURING THE ACTIVATION PROCESS....

....you mean to tell me this is the person who will actually be unpackaging ( or worse still -- have them unpackaged in bulk, waiting for each customer) and touching my brand new iPhone 3G before I even have a chance to??!!!

Just like a mother in the wild will sometimes reject her newborn pups if a human touches it, neither do I want or need somebody putting their stinkin paws all over my stuff! It ruins the whole buying experience if you ask me!!

I like keeping my stuff new-looking and untainted. If I hadn't been careless and dropped my current iPhone while I (ironically, of all things) had it out of the case and was cleaning it, it wouldnt have a single scratch on it...an I've had it since day 1 of the original launch!!

Surely each employee at AT&T and Apple will be wearing white gloves, yes?

Yes, surely. God forbid they drop it on the floor.

They might just scan the barcode on the back and you are good to go... But who knows... I have no idea... it would be great if the iTunes activator just scanes the bar code and activates that phone with your account info on it.

 

[Mr Maui]

I think you need to re-read the Privacy Act of 1974 (http://www.justice.gov/oip/privstat.htm):

"Sec. 7(a) (1) It shall be unlawful for any Federal, State or local government agency to deny to any individual...because of such individual's refusal to disclose his social security account number."

I don't see anything in there saying it's unlawful for a non-government entity to require it. Our credit system, as flawed as it is, chose to use the SSN as a universal identifier and so if you want to play the game, you have to play by the rules. Are you going to refuse to give your SSN when buying a house, a car or entering into some other major contract?

And for any company or business to "deny to any individual" a service available to the general public because of their right to refuse to disclose a "non-essential" element such as a social security number for the utilization of that service would be considered discrimination. Apple and AT&T are government-created corporate entities (as are all corporations) and therefore bound by government regulation.

It may be true that the Privacy Act does not say a company (such as Apple) cannot "request" your social security number be provided, but that cannot "require" it or deny you their product or service if your choice is to NOT provide it, which is your right as a citizen. If they do, then they are engaging in discrimination, just the same as if they denied selling your their product because you were Hispanic or Catholic or disabled.

The "rules", as you put it, are to pay for the product and pay for the service. The company can only deny you the product or service if you can't pay. A SSN is not required for payment. Again ... JMO

 

[Mr Maui]

I've seen people saying this in a lot of threads. The Privacy Act of 1974 only has to do with governments requiring you to give them your social security number. They (federal, state, local governments) can't deny you service for not giving your social security number. Whatever anyone may think about "big government" or corporations or privacy, what you're saying just isn't true. This act has NOTHING to do with private businesses. Sure, you can refuse to give a private business your SSN, and they can refuse to give you service (credit card, cell phone service, whatever).

From Dept. of Justice, you can find same info anywhere from googling:

http://www.usdoj.gov/oip/1974ssnu.htm

SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER USAGE

Section 7 of the Privacy Act (found at 5 U.S.C. § 552a note (Disclosure of Social Security Number)) provides that:

"It shall be unlawful for any Federal, State or local government agency to deny to any individual any right, benefit, or privilege provided by law because of such individual's refusal to disclose his social security account number." Sec. 7(a)(1).​

(it goes on to explain all the exceptions -- driver's licenses, state taxes, anything in place before 1975, etc., etc.)

And as I replied to the other poster ... if they deny you the service simply because you refuse to provide your SSN, which is your right, they are guilty of discrimination. It's that simple.

 

[louster1950]

after reading through all these posts, I still want a new iPhone.My wife has the original. Only question I can't seem to find answered is about combining our ATT accounts. I'm currently with TMobile and will be porting my number over.
Anybody have a clue as to whether or not she'll need to go to Apple store with me to buy phone and add to her account. Of course, I'll start paying the bills at that point.

Thanks,

L

 

[louster1950]

newbie?

.... and geez, how many posts does it take to not be a *&^%newbie anymore?

 

[Ambrose Chapel]

i'm still not sure what they are referring to with the password/pin you need to port your number. has anybody gotten clarification on this (particularly from Verizon)? is this our online account password, voicemail password, something else?

 

[QCassidy352]

I agree but, if you refuse to give them your SSN, they can just as easily refuse to sell you that product... they DO have that right [to refuse to sell to you.]

Yes, but I don't think they will. I've gone through this twice in the last two weeks (buying a car and setting up comcast service). Both times the company swore up and down they needed my SSN. When I flatly refused to give it to them, they gave in and admitted they didn't need it.

And as I replied to the other poster ... if they deny you the service simply because you refuse to provide your SSN, which is your right, they are guilty of discrimination. It's that simple.

Discrimination yes, but legally actionable discrimination? No. But as I said above, I don't think it will come to that. They will give in rather than lose a sale because at the end of the day, they know they don't really need that information.

 

[luckygyrl83]

I've never been in an apple store either, I don't think im missing much theres a bestbuy i can go to. There the same right?

Just because they sell some of Apples items doesnt mean they are the same. I dont think BB is selling the iphone, but you may wanna check. In the US, I think its only being sold at Att and Apple stores.

 

[PAKing]

iSuckers for the iPhone

What the ****? Apple does not need my Social Security number! Yet another reason not to purchase the iPhone.

Identity theft in an upraise, why would I want to give out privilege information like my Social security number. By law only THREE agencies are require to ask for a Social security number
1) Employer
2) IRS
3) Credit Card Companies

First of all, the iPhone nor At&t are not offering monthly cell use on credit...
You are require to pay for the first month up front...

So they don't need my Social security number
It's not a credit card...

Credit card you get crap first
Then you pay for the crap you bought
That is why a Social security number is needed...

With a At&t contract you are require to pay up front and pray and trust that At&t provide you with service you already pay for. Shouldn't we be asking At&t for their Social security number, just incase they don't provide the service we paid for up front?

So Apple & At&t will just have to stick their iPhone up their iAss....
No way I'm putting my social security number at risk...
What next
My deed to my house
Blood sample
First Born

Find another SUCKER!

Plus!
What A Huge Disappointment! Waiting all this time, all the hype and this is the best they can do? This is what LACKING!

These are just a few omissions we could think of. The iPhone 3G did not meet my expectations, I would need a few more features.

• NO Flash for the camera
• NO Turn by turn voice GPS
• NO Being able to swoop out my own dead battery
• NO higher mega pixel for the camera

The probability of me getting the New 3G iPhone is 98% sure I won't be buying into the hype. Every one has their own need on cell phone. However for me major security concern not being able to change your own cell battery is important. I don't trust people to do the right thing when handing over a problem non working iPhone for a replacement. With today identity Theft problem on an up raise each and every day. I'm suppose to hand over an iPhone with my PERSONAL information to God know who, maybe a disgruntle employee. Trust that they will erase my personal information for me, with out taking a peek and maybe writing it down for his or her personal gain. Like we never seen this done before. It's only been done almost EVERY day in any given work environment.

• NO Multimedia messaging - Almost every other cell phone in the market has the ability to send images to other cell phones via multimedia messaging, or MMS. Yes you can still e-mail those photos, but MMS is such a basic feature that it should've been in the iPhone from the start.,

• NO Copy and paste - Again, this is such a basic feature. Having copy and paste makes it easier to type out text messages and e-mails.,
• Video recording - In the world of mobile video, Qik, and YouTube, it's a shame the iPhone doesn't have video-recording capabilities. Yes the quality wouldn't be that great, but it should be an option anyway.,

• NO Voice command - For a touch-screen phone, we think voice command and voice dialing would've been a great feature add-on for the iPhone. Perhaps this will be added via a third-party app, but we would really prefer this to be a native setting., I use voice dialing all the time while driving, for obvious safety reason of cause. Plus in NYC it's the LAW to do so. So for this basic function to not be available in the iPhone is a bummer for me. Cause all the el cheapo free phone have this basic function, so not the iPhone?

• NO Bluetooth flexibility - Right now, all you can use Bluetooth on the iPhone for are headset voice calls, and that's it. This is sufficient for most people, sure, but we would like for Apple and AT&T to open up the Bluetooth profiles for the iPhone. This means we would like stereo Bluetooth and A2DP for streaming music wirelessly, Bluetooth tethering so we can use the iPhone as a modem, and finally we would like to have Bluetooth file-transfer protocol so we can transfer files to and fro the iPhone.

 

[luckygyrl83]

i'm still not sure what they are referring to with the password/pin you need to port your number. has anybody gotten clarification on this (particularly from Verizon)? is this our online account password, voicemail password, something else?

Im wondering about this too. When I ported my # from ATT (before they were Cingular), I had to prob going to VZW. I hope its just as easy to go back.

 

[luckygyrl83]

.... and geez, how many posts does it take to not be a *&^%newbie anymore?

A good number of them. And thanks for mentioning that. I just noticed Im not a newbie anymore WOOHOO!!!!!

 

[infowarfare]

And for any company or business to "deny to any individual" a service available to the general public because of their right to refuse to disclose a "non-essential" element such as a social security number for the utilization of that service would be considered discrimination. Apple and AT&T are government-created corporate entities (as are all corporations) and therefore bound by government regulation.

It may be true that the Privacy Act does not say a company (such as Apple) cannot "request" your social security number be provided, but that cannot "require" it or deny you their product or service if your choice is to NOT provide it, which is your right as a citizen. If they do, then they are engaging in discrimination, just the same as if they denied selling your their product because you were Hispanic or Catholic or disabled.

The "rules", as you put it, are to pay for the product and pay for the service. The company can only deny you the product or service if you can't pay. A SSN is not required for payment. Again ... JMO

Wrong...

And as I replied to the other poster ... if they deny you the service simply because you refuse to provide your SSN, which is your right, they are guilty of discrimination. It's that simple.

... and Wrong!

In the U.S. businesses have the right to refuse service to anyone as long as it is not based on Race, Religion or National Origin:

Both federal and state laws prohibit businesses from denying public accommodation to citizens on the basis of race, color, religion or national original. The Federal Civil Rights Act guarantees all people the right to "full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, and accommodations of any place of public accommodation, without discrimination or segregation on the ground of race, color, religion, or national origin."

Yes, but I don't think they will. I've gone through this twice in the last two weeks (buying a car and setting up comcast service). Both times the company swore up and down they needed my SSN. When I flatly refused to give it to them, they gave in and admitted they didn't need it.

Discrimination yes, but legally actionable discrimination? No. But as I said above, I don't think it will come to that. They will give in rather than lose a sale because at the end of the day, they know they don't really need that information.

You are right. It will be up to their own discretion whether to sell to you or not and hopefully, if someone politely refuses to give their SSN, Apple and/or AT&T will "give in" and sell to you anyway (but again, they don't have to, espcially if someone is being an @ss about it. It's NOT discrimination unless it's based on your Race, Religion or National Origin.)

 

[havenhamilton]

i'm still not sure what they are referring to with the password/pin you need to port your number. has anybody gotten clarification on this (particularly from Verizon)? is this our online account password, voicemail password, something else?

i just got off the phone with verizon and they told me there isnt a password or pin on my account. i'll call again on thurs to make sure but thats what they said.

 

[Mr Maui]

Wrong...

... and Wrong!

In the U.S. businesses have the right to refuse service to anyone as long as it is not based on Race, Religion or National Origin:

So you are saying businesses can discriminate for other reasons? What about disabilities? What about having long hair? If a business owner doesn't like people with long hair, they are free to deny a service they otherwise offer to the general public?

i.e. -- I walk into Best Buy to purchase a CD. I walk to the counter, and the young lady says, "Sir, I'm sorry, but I can't sell to you because Best Buy does not sell to people with blue eyes." You're telling me they can do this? It is THEIR RIGHT as business owners? That is the same as saying, "We won't sell to you because you are black or Jewish." ... and THAT IS discrimination.

 

[Ambrose Chapel]

i just got off the phone with verizon and they told me there isnt a password or pin on my account. i'll call again on thurs to make sure but thats what they said.

thanks. i guess i should call them too and find out

 

[dawhol9]

First of all, the iPhone nor At&t are offer monthly cell use on credit...
You are require to pay for the first month up front...

With a At&t contract you are require to pay up front and pray and trust that At&t provide you with service you already pay for. Shouldn't we be asking At&t for their Social security number, just incase they don't provide the service we paid for up front?

WRONG.....You NEVER pay up front for your contract...that would be a PRE PAID account. At the end of the month they bill you...you pay the bill...So yes they run a credit check to see if you are a deadbeat. If you are, then they charge you more for the phone because most likely you will not finish your contract. This is not rocket science. You need to use your SSN whenever you get services that require you to pay later. LIKE RENT....Try and rent an apartment or buy a house without giving them your SSN....Try and buy a car without giving your SSN. Try and get electricity without giving your SSN....I guess when you live in the real world and you have to get those services, you understand about the credit check....Its not just Apple (and actually its not Apple at all its AT&T), but T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint, etc....The only time you wont need a credit check is if ou are on a pre-paid account. Then you buy a certain amount of minutes and when they are used, your phone stops working until you add minutes. That kind of plan will not work with the iPhone 3G.

 

[spencers]

This is getting ridiculous... I'm unsure of what to do since I have cash only right now. I'm guessing the gift card thing is out of the question now?

 

[dawhol9]

So you are saying businesses can discriminate for other reasons? What about disabilities? What about having long hair? If a business owner doesn't like people with long hair, they are free to deny a service they otherwise offer to the general public?

i.e. -- I walk into Best Buy to purchase a CD. I walk to the counter, and the young lady says, "Sir, I'm sorry, but I can't sell to you because Best Buy does not sell to people with blue eyes." You're telling me they can do this? It is THEIR RIGHT as business owners? That is the same as saying, "We won't sell to you because you are black or Jewish." ... and THAT IS discrimination.

Business have the right to refuse to sell you something for just about ANY reason, except based on your race, religion, or physical attributes. You walk in and get loud and start screaming, they can throw you out. You start talking to people in the wrong manner, they can throw you out, you have not bathed in 20 years, they can throw you out. So you refuse to adhere to their guidelines, they can refuse to sell you a phone. Its not your RIGHT to buy an iPhone. Your RIGHTS have nothing tho do with iPhone ownership. Just like renting an Apartment, they have the RIGHT to deny you if your credit is bad.

 

[dawhol9]

This is getting ridiculous... I'm unsure of what to do since I have cash only right now. I'm guessing the gift card thing is out of the question now?

No you buy the gift card with cash and use that to buy the iPhone...the question is do you have good credit? If you are not sure you can go to an AT&T store and pre qualify. That way you know if you can buy a subsidized iPhone...its not Rocket Science people!

 

[PAKing]

LG Dare is what I'll be getting

At lest with the LG Dare I can swop my own battery, Plus it has more functionality than what the iCrap, I mean iPhone has...

So thanks LG Dare for putting iJunk, I mean iPhone in it's place on what a real phone should be like....

However LG Dare has feature that the iPhone don't have...
These are what people have been complaining that the iPhone was lacking
Here is the list of what LG Dare has to offer

For example
1) you change your own battery, instead of handing it over to a sale person.
Now that is what I call ZERO down time on your cell use

2) Better camera 3.2 MP

3) Camera flash

4) Voice dialing when in the car (HELLO) a no brainer

5) It has haptic feedback

6) Voice Recorder

7) Your able to record videos, something the iPhone is unable to do...

PLUS many more!

 

[izzle22]

.... and geez, how many posts does it take to not be a *&^%newbie anymore?

A lot more than 3!