Still beyond me, why the biggest, richest, most innovative, bla bla bla tech company in the world, needs several hours to update their web site/online store. Hype much...
Seems silly that they close the store down. I get it, its one of those tools they use to increase the excitement, but on the other hand, preventing people from buying, is kind of odd.
Well, they're one of the biggest brands on the planet, co-ordinating a super-secret product launch across several countries
and umpteen timezones both online and at physical stores (I'm sure even the "flagship" high-street stores need to hit the ground running, even if the smaller ones won't be up to speed) - and frequently start accepting orders, if not actually shipping, immediately after the launch.
I can think of all sorts of problems, disputes and annoyances that could occur if people were still ordering old products while the new products were being launched. Plus, think of the "whatevergate" scandal that would ensue if they made a mistake on the website, like a wrong price, at a time when a million Apple fanatics were sitting with their fingers hovering over the "buy" button. Or what if the site actually changed while people were in mid-transaction? A nice, clear, "buffer" of several hours - probably enough to cover the start of trading hours across the US, at least, between the old range and the new, seems like it would keep things nice and simple.
...and, of course, just removing the models that were due to be replaced would be something of a spoiler.
Apple are about the only people I can think of who regularly conduct launches this way - most other tech products would have been announced weeks, if not months ahead of the launch date. It must be a major headache! I think its safe to assume that they're
not doing this because they haven't worked out how to "stage" a website change...
i wonder if that's just to give them some leg room, my guess is around 2 hours maybe a little longer if they have a lot to announce.
