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nicho

macrumors 601
Feb 15, 2008
4,216
3,210
No, that’s absolutely not it. Apple doesn’t have unmanageable capacity issues. It’s just hype.

Oh, OK then. They take the store down and only turn half the servers back on. They make the experience deliberately awful at preorder time, for the hype. Got it.
 

sjsharksfan12

macrumors 68000
Jun 29, 2020
1,873
2,367
San Jose, CA
Well that explains it. There is a LOT of traffic when an iPhone launches. The store doesn't work too well.

If they didn't manage traffic, people in places where it isn't 5 in the morning might experience sudden slowdowns, outages, or bugs like items disappearing/reappearing from their carts or funky delivery dates.

A Multi-billion dollar company can't operate an online store properly? A same company that operates a TV streaming service?
 

nicho

macrumors 601
Feb 15, 2008
4,216
3,210
A Multi-billion dollar company can't operate an online store properly? A same company that operates a TV streaming service?

I didn't realise they also took down TV and Music for this. I must be wrong that streaming content can be duplicated in ways that an online store database (for a store that gives delivery times at point of sale, a function that requires stock levels to be known in real time) cannot.

Here are some articles about how Netflix operate streaming with caches. You'll find other streaming services do similar, and the internet is not quite as magical as you think.

https://openconnect.netflix.com/en_gb/

https://netflixtechblog.com/caching-for-a-global-netflix-7bcc457012f1

https://www.reddit.com/r/Piracy/comments/yee5ws

As someone who lived in China before iCloud servers were placed in China, I can tell you how big a difference local caches and bandwidth beyond your own internet connection make. I once uploaded 20 photos to iCloud in a week, went to HK for the weekend and uploaded 1000 overnight. Backups would regularly fail in the mainland, work like a dream in HK.

But try localising a sales database. I mean, you could - but you'd have to have a good handle on expected sales... how many would be happy to see a 6-8 week delivery estimate in their country and delivery tomorrow on the other side of the border? (note this does actually happen, with a little less extreme difference because of the multi-billion dollar company's tight stock control, with some products that are already shipped to local warehouses rather than coming from China. Once that stock is exhausted, though, at this point everyone joins the same queue from China. That sales/manufacture process, the lack of change to the practice of taking the store down, and Apple's multi-billion dollar value are not unconnected).
 

sjsharksfan12

macrumors 68000
Jun 29, 2020
1,873
2,367
San Jose, CA
I didn't realise they also took down TV and Music for this. I must be wrong that streaming content can be duplicated in ways that an online store database (for a store that gives delivery times at point of sale, a function that requires stock levels to be known in real time) cannot.

I don't know if they did shut down TV and Music for this. My point is they have Millions (?) of subscribers for Music and TV and they seem to be running ok. Why would mass preordering be an issue and why wouldn't the Apple Servers be able to handle it. Also, it's still the Iphone 14, which most people already have. In terms of events, I've never understood why close the entire store when if there is going to be a mass of preorders when you reopen it, you're just delaying the inevitable.
 

nicho

macrumors 601
Feb 15, 2008
4,216
3,210
I don't know if they did shut down TV and Music for this. My point is they have Millions (?) of subscribers for Music and TV and they seem to be running ok. Why would mass preordering be an issue and why wouldn't the Apple Servers be able to handle it. Also, it's still the Iphone 14, which most people already have. In terms of events, I've never understood why close the entire store when if there is going to be a mass of preorders when you reopen it, you're just delaying the inevitable.

If the sarcasm wasn't clear, they did not have to close either of them, because they work so differently that they are literally irrelevant to this conversation.

For Apple, preorders are processed just like sales. The spikes are huge, and don't forget that there are interactions with payment processors as well - it isn't just like a couple of million people clicking a button and then it is done. How do you handle 2000 people buying something in the same second if there are only 1000 in stock this Tuesday and the next batch will be another week? It's a much bigger undertaking than many on here give credit for.

In most cases.

I'm sure they could have handled this one fine though. But then the 'media' would have a field day and doom the yellow one before it was even in the hands of customers as a poor seller rather than the 'new big thing' as Apple wants. So it continues.
 
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Howard2k

macrumors 603
Mar 10, 2016
5,226
5,054
@apple. If you cannot manage your server capacity for your online store when launching a new product, please engage one of literally hundreds of thousands of network professionals who have experience of at scale Internet commerce platforms.

You’re welcome.
 
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Radeon85

macrumors 65816
Mar 16, 2012
1,016
1,883
South Wales, UK
Can you imagine if Amazon took the store down every time a new product went up, there would be a 9.9999% down time. Really is time Apple ended this stupid tradition, it's gotten old and stale at this point.
 
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