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In Store Activation Doesn't Make Sense

L

llj84

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 10, 2008
3
0
First, it would be a logistical nightmare, especially on launch day.

Second, why have both in-store activation and penalties for those that don't activate within 30 days? You don't need both. In-store activation, as far as I can tell, is only based on one article, from Gizmodo, claiming to have talked to AT&T's President of National Distribution Glenn Lurie. The penalties is based on a Reuters article. I don't know much about Gizmodo, or whatever it's called, but I'm betting on Reuters.

Also, no internet purchases. What is this, 1997? Preposterous.
 
It's all because of the unlocking. They're cutting the price $200 on the basis of you paying it back over the contract. If someone unlocks the iPhone and uses it on another carrier, AT&T essentially loses money on the device.

That being said, are you kidding me that there isn't a way to fix this? You could be required to order the phone through your Apple ID just like you buy songs. Then you have a credit card on file and there's some way to make sure you sign the contract and all. My bet is something similar was suggested and AT&T crapped a brick over Apple getting more control.
 
it will be a nightmare, especially when you get a couple of people who actually decide to read the contract before they sign it. And according to at&t it takes about 10 minutes per phone. You have 5 people at the registers and about 100 people in line, people are gonna be pissed.

at&t says they have always done it this way and this is the way customers like it. Well at&t has never had a phone that people wait outside for a week for. Think about it, when has there ever been a line for a cell phone on launch day
 
rolex54 said:
it will be a nightmare, especially when you get a couple of people who actually decide to read the contract before they sign it. And according to at&t it takes about 10 minutes per phone. You have 5 people at the registers and about 100 people in line, people are gonna be pissed.

at&t says they have always done it this way and this is the way customers like it. Well at&t has never had a phone that people wait outside for a week for. Think about it, when has there ever been a line for a cell phone on launch day
Click to expand...

AT&T knows its going to be a big deal. Just look what happened last year when the first iPhone was released. That was a mess as well. I am not backing up AT&T, because i think it is a horrible idea, but you would think they have some plan in mind. Otherwise, they are screwed.
 
Do you have to sign up for a contract what if you already have a contract with att. Can I just buy the phone and switch it. Also will it work with my old non 3g service, i just have a regular att cell phone service
 
iphoneK said:
Do you have to sign up for a contract what if you already have a contract with att. Can I just buy the phone and switch it. Also will it work with my old non 3g service, i just have a regular att cell phone service
Click to expand...

I believe i read that they force you to sign up with a contract. And if you some how don't, they hunt you down. Literally...although not literally.
 
In-Store Activation = Really Bad Idea

I personally held out on the first iPhone, because I don't use the phone much at all (I have a GoPhone and use the prepaid cards, which is great because a whole year only costs me $100.). I found sites that showed you how to use a GoPhone SIM card in the iPhone and was psyched and thought maybe it be possible on the 3G phone. If they have in-store activation, it would take forever for the people at the AT&T and Apple stores to get checked out and they will probably loose customers. I know I will not buy the new 3G iPhone, because of that and I will not be able to get around buying a plan. I would probably go on eBay and buy someone's old iPhone or buy a new iPod Touch, because my 6gig iPod mini just bit the dust.

I really hope that it's still set up thru iTunes. The whole integration of the cell phone, gps, digital camera, internet access and a digital music player is pretty interesting though. That would be one of the big reasons I would buy the 3G iPhone.
 
llj84 said:
First, it would be a logistical nightmare, especially on launch day.

Second, why have both in-store activation and penalties for those that don't activate within 30 days? You don't need both. In-store activation, as far as I can tell, is only based on one article, from Gizmodo, claiming to have talked to AT&T's President of National Distribution Glenn Lurie. The penalties is based on a Reuters article. I don't know much about Gizmodo, or whatever it's called, but I'm betting on Reuters.

Also, no internet purchases. What is this, 1997? Preposterous.
Click to expand...
There must be something about this scenario that we haven't heard yet as it makes no sense from almost any viewpoint IMO.

1) It's guaranteed to lose them at least *some* customers. All those folks that go into an Apple store and end up buying a phone just casue of the hype are not going to do it if they have the plan costs in front of them and time to think about it. Also a lot of folks will just be pissed off about the hassle and decide not to do it. They are seriously ignoring how much of the previous models sales were hype and impulse buying.

2) Lots of people (in my country anyway), live thousands of miles from stores and so forth. These people (and many others) prefer to buy online. Hell most people I know buy almost everything online nowadays. How terribly "retro" of Apple to ignore that fact and force people to go to a brick and mortar store.

3) Even if you can get to a store, for most of the world outside of the USA this means the carriers store, not Apples. Remember all those horrible experiences people had at AT&T stores and how it was so lucky that you could go to Apple instead? Well guess what? For most of the iPhone 3G addressable market there isn't an Apple store in the country! For those that have them, most have between one and three stores all thousands and thousands of miles apart! I know I will never, ever bother to go to a Rogers store and suffer through all that nonsense just to get an iPhone.

I can think of a bunch more but I will stop now. :)
 
rolex54 said:
it will be a nightmare, especially when you get a couple of people who actually decide to read the contract before they sign it. And according to at&t it takes about 10 minutes per phone. You have 5 people at the registers and about 100 people in line, people are gonna be pissed.

at&t says they have always done it this way and this is the way customers like it. Well at&t has never had a phone that people wait outside for a week for. Think about it, when has there ever been a line for a cell phone on launch day
Click to expand...

There's (presumably) nothing to stop ATT pre signing the contract with you (they could even walk down the line signing contracts), and then you come back on release day, contract starts when you pick up the phone.
 
Bad idea is the understatement of a lifetime.

Figure 150 people in line.
Figure 5 registers (talking about At&t store, not Apple).
10 minutes minimum per activation.

150x10= 1,500 minutes of activation, or 25 hours.
25/5= 5 hours of activation time per register to complete all 150 people.

That is in a fantasy world where we are all robots and we all move when we should, don't ask questions, don't buy more than one phone, don't read contract fine print, don't get pissed, don't.... You get the idea.

If 10, just 10 of the 150 people buy more than 1 phone, you have another 100 minutes of activation time to split. 20 more minutes per register...

If 10 of the 150 people ask questions and gripe about something, get mad about something, etc; you can easily add another 10 minutes per person. There is yet another 100 minutes of waiting time....

What happens if one of the computers screws up?

What happens if one of the reps makes a mistake?

This is going to be absolutely awful. This is possibly the worst change they could ever make to the way this thing is sold and activated. Thank you very much hacking community! We appreciate it! (that was a purely pissed off comment that I don't mean, the hacking community was responsible for some great stuff)
 
CrazEtooN said:
Bad idea is the understatement of a lifetime.

Figure 150 people in line.
Figure 5 registers (talking about At&t store, not Apple).
10 minutes minimum per activation.

150x10= 1,500 minutes of activation, or 25 hours.
25/5= 5 hours of activation time per register to complete all 150 people.

That is in a fantasy world where we are all robots and we all move when we should, don't ask questions, don't buy more than one phone, don't read contract fine print, don't get pissed, don't.... You get the idea.

If 10, just 10 of the 150 people buy more than 1 phone, you have another 100 minutes of activation time to split. 20 more minutes per register...

If 10 of the 150 people ask questions and gripe about something, get mad about something, etc; you can easily add another 10 minutes per person. There is yet another 100 minutes of waiting time....

What happens if one of the computers screws up?

What happens if one of the reps makes a mistake?

This is going to be absolutely awful. This is possibly the worst change they could ever make to the way this thing is sold and activated. Thank you very much hacking community! We appreciate it! (that was a purely pissed off comment that I don't mean, the hacking community was responsible for some great stuff)
Click to expand...

It seemed bad before. With the math, it looks even worse. I don't care if this is how they have always done it before, as said earlier, they have never had people waiting in line for hours to get a phone. And they have never had the demand. They have no idea what they are getting into, this makes the iTunes activation even better than it did before.
 
jplan2008 said:
http://www.reuters.com/article/comktnews/idESBNG17465820080610?rpc=77
Click to expand...

Nice try, but this article addresses nothing from my post. It acknowledges there's on-site, retail store activations associated with the iPhone. That's nothing new. It never says there will be on-site, retail activation at an Apple store. More important, this article never says on-site activation is REQUIRED.

As far as the main point of the article, it says this company's software is not being used. That does not imply that there's no at home, software activation. It just means this company's software is out.

Sloppy reading comprehension.
 
Granted, these nightmare scenarios only apply for the first day or two. After that, it wouldn't be a problem.

And online purchases aren't out of the question either. After all, wireless carriers already allow phone purchases online.
 
In Germany, you need to sign a mobile contract plan inside the t-mobile store before you get the first generation iphone.

There was absolutely no logistical problem what-so-ever.
 
llj84 said:
Nice try, but this article addresses nothing from my post. It acknowledges there's on-site, retail store activations associated with the iPhone. That's nothing new. It never says there will be on-site, retail activation at an Apple store. More important, this article never says on-site activation is REQUIRED.

As far as the main point of the article, it says this company's software is not being used. That does not imply that there's no at home, software activation. It just means this company's software is out.

Sloppy reading comprehension.
Click to expand...

I think it will be a nightmare, too, but I believe this is the way it will work.

Not Reuters, but not Gizmodo either (Forbes):

http://www.forbes.com/markets/equities/2008/06/10/synchronoss-technologies-iphone-markets-equity-cx_cg_0610markets19.html

"Shares of Synchronoss Technologies (nasdaq: SNCR - news - people ) sank 17.1%, or $2.28, to close at $11.03, in the wake of news that the new iPhone would be activated in-store, rather than using an online service managed by the software company. Synchronoss noted that it had anticipated that development in its previous guidance.

With the original iPhone, customers could activate the hit Apple (nasdaq: AAPL - news - people ) handset through either ATT.com or through Apple's online iTunes store. Synchronoss would take the information and manage the process of setting up the account for AT&T.

Although the new activation process effectively circumvents Synchronoss, the company did say it would still be managing certain transactions associated with the 3G phone. Problem is, it didn't say what those were, leaving investors and analysts guessing..."
 
What I think they should do is only do in-store activation for NEW AT&T customers who are just opening an account from them(because they switched from Verizon/T-Mobile, etc...).

There's no need for those who already have an account with them. I don't have a problem with renewing my contract -- I'm not going to leave AT&T anytime soon.
 
Wait a second...you actually think a president of AT&T is lying to the press?!
 
D3lta said:
What I think they should do is only do in-store activation for NEW AT&T customers who are just opening an account from them(because they switched from Verizon/T-Mobile, etc...).

There's no need for those who already have an account with them. I don't have a problem with renewing my contract -- I'm not going to leave AT&T anytime soon.
Click to expand...

I agree with you --- it has nothing to do with activation per se.

You have to sign a 2 year contract at the AT&T store before you get the iphone. After you sign the contract, it really does not matter whether they activate the iphone for you or you activating it at home.
 
SFStateStudent said:
Dang, and I've been working on jailbreaking and unlocking the new 3G for nothing! :D:p
Click to expand...

Not true. I'm sure there will be lots of people willing to buy a PayG iPhone from O2 who would be willing to sell it to somebody in the US so that they could unlock it.

Figure the unsubsidized iPhone will still be £269. O2 PayG sim £10. Add in shipping (£50) and a reasonable markup ;-) , and anybody can have an unlocked iPhone for just $1,000.
 
UK activation

Seems the UK will still activate the new phone as 1st gen. Info from o2 website

You'll activate the iPhone in the comfort of your own home using your Mac or PC and iTunes.


Good news, wonder why this is different from AT&T?
 
well lets see as bad as it is this is ATT protecting its investment. It kills the Ebay sellers in there tracks so that does mean more iPhones for the people who want them not people just to turn around and sell them on ebay.

It kills the unlockers. My guess is the total number of pissed off people who will not get the iPhone will be less than what they where losing because of unlockers. The smart people just sit on it a few days and get it shortly after the release. Some of us have better things to do than waste our time getting the next new thing.
 
mkjj said:
Seems the UK will still activate the new phone as 1st gen. Info from o2 website

You'll activate the iPhone in the comfort of your own home using your Mac or PC and iTunes.


Good news, wonder why this is different from AT&T?
Click to expand...
Ohh yes :D

UK UK UK UK

I'll be in and out of there in a quarter of the time I planned.
 
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