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I have the first gen, not the 3G, so not only am I eligible, I'm not under contract of any kind. That being said, here's my thought on the upgrade issue...

Before the 1st gen came out, you can't tell me Apple didn't already have a roadmap for a new model yearly. With that in mind, Apple and ATT really should have figured many would want to upgrade yearly. To account for this, they should have optioned a 1 year contract with less subsidy. That way, you are free to get the new phone every year. Instead of a $199 iPhone 3G, you would have paid $299. Then after 12 months, you get full upgrade eligibility. If you want the 3Gs over 2 years for $199, fine. 1 year = $299. Etc.

I haven't done the math, so I don't know if these numbers make sense, but you get the idea. The fact is, many would choose to upgrade every year.

It's $200 either way.So what?
 
WOW!
Thank you for the best,clearest explanation of the situation I've seen!Now if all the whiners could be made to comprehend it,the world would be a better place.

I'm activating my $499 32gb 3Gs right now and not complaining a bit.

Glad to help. :)
 
Silly boy! He meant 2 million total ever! LOL:D

Actually, I am posting his quote below:

No biggy. Pre "sold" at least 2 million I heard.

His words use the word "sold" (quote marks added by me) in the PAST TENSE mode, thus indicating that Palm had already SOLD 2 million Pre's. If he meant ever (which I conclude he didn't), he should have said something like, "Palm will be lucky if it ever sells 2 million of the Pre." :p
 
Gee...maybe that's why you get the full subsidized price after 18 months-ya think?

One might think that, but in all likelihood that phone is paid off by 18 months. Even if it did take 18 months that does not explain why if I was going through AT&T to get my 3GS at the $199 or $299 price, I would not be eligible until 3/13/2010 which is 20 months after I purchased my 3G.
 
3rd Times a Charm!

This is the 3rd phone for Apple --> seems to reason that they would be learning from any past mistakes they made with selling this thing and getting it activated for millions of people. Also, the things they got right have been tweaked also to be more efficient.

You don't need lines and lines of people if you're going to really sell stuff. You just need an effective routine.

You only need lines that take forever if you want to give the illusion of selling a lot (Palm Pre and Sprint's slow-on-purpose Sales team) -- let's keep the lines long for as long as possible!

That's BS.

Apple rules.
 
In and Out in 45 minutes with Black 32GB 3GS

I was just in and out of the McArthur Apple Store in less than 45 minutes with a new 32GB 3GS iPhone. Totally painless and well worth the upgrade. The video alone is already a big hit with me and my daughter! Thanks Apple!
 
I was just in and out of the McArthur Apple Store in less than 45 minutes with a new 32GB 3GS iPhone. Totally painless and well worth the upgrade. The video alone is already a big hit with me and my daughter! Thanks Apple!

Nice to hear! ;)
 
...so how many was that then ?

You do know that O2 has already stated they have/will sell 50% more than they did of the 3G in a single day right?

O2 ran out of stock with the 3G as they under estimated demand last time. So 50% more than not a lot, is still not alot ! We'll see how many they sell when the final numbers come out.
Empirically, I haven't seen the queues this time and many of those with the desire don't have the money this time around. I'm one of them.
It looks like a great tool but not at the total price of ownership this time. I'll wait for iPhone 4G, partly because I have too and partly because I want too.:(
 
My issue is with the bar they set for the upgrade - if I had spent $5 a month more on additional texts and I presumably would have qualified. I also agree that annual launches were in the cards and that they ought to have planned some sort of loyalty program upgrades. Finally, if they can offer me that price in December, what's the big deal with offering it to me today if I'm signing on for additional months anyway? Seems shortsighted, and although the deal is better than initially offered, the revision only happened weds, so again, the whole thing was not well planned.
 
What are the chances of selling out this weekend? I have to wait about a week and half and I'd hate for it to sell out, making me wait an additional week or 2.

Any info out there?
 
Upgrade

I dont know when the last time everyone checked their upgrade status but i know for me i checked on wed and it said i wast eligible until dec but i checked again yesterday and i was upgrade eligible!!! i just bought a 3G S oh and my bill is under a 100$ so you may want to check again just in case :)
 
Would have if I could

I would have bought a 3GS today, if there was somewhere that sold a Pay as You Go version near where I work. There aren't any Apple Stores in the North East of England and I commute away from the major cities (so O2 opening at 9am wasn't helpful). The town I work in doesn't have an O2 store (appalling local coverage) and the Carphone Warehouse who gave a store there only have contract phones on offer.

I hope the apparent lack of the demand means there will be a phone for me tomorrow morning.
 

They don't have a very good reputation at resellerratings.com. If I get a DOA macbook from the Apple store, I can take it back the next day and get a new one. Macmall seems to require you send it back to them and then they make sure it really is DOA and then you get a new one. waste of time. I want the Apple warranty.
 
Actually, I am posting his quote below:



His words use the word "sold" (quote marks added by me) in the PAST TENSE mode, thus indicating that Palm had already SOLD 2 million Pre's. If he meant ever (which I conclude he didn't), he should have said something like, "Palm will be lucky if it ever sells 2 million of the Pre." :p

Ummm... And I ended with a "LOL" and just to make sure you understood it was a joke, a :D

I guess i should've filled in the title bar with: " warning! I am being facetious!"
 
They can do damn near anything they want and people will still flock to the iphone.

But IMO, there actually is a "good" reason to not have tethering and MMS right away... I think AT&T is frantically upgrading their network in advance of yet millions more high-volume 3G data users. I just don't think the network can take the strain of all the 3G S users + tethering + MMS. AT&T knows this and is working to increase capacity, but it takes time.

Spot on!
It cracks me up to hear gripers 'expertly' advise on what it takes for a carrier to support the kind of volume that iPhone tethering will generate.
All you have to do is look at the mobile web traffic percentages generated by iPhone to fathom the kind of bump that it will produce in tethering.
Not that I particularly like any cell carrier, but AT&T is no worse or better than the rest.
I do look forward to de-linking however, in order to actually generate some competition between the carriers.
 
I went to two different Apple Stores in San Diego county that had no 32GB's available for non-preorder customers. I had to go to a semi high volume AT&T store to pick mine up. Looks like they're selling well over here.
 
This may seem like a diatribe not related to the thread but my 3GS buying experience has me pissed.

I reserved my 3GS on 6/9 and went to the Apple Store at 6 PM to pick it up. I had to wait one hour in a line to even get into the store. Like many around the country, my Apple store decided to segregate those who reserved the phone with those who didn't into 2 separate lines. The reason? There were plenty of iPhones available (although the hipster Apple employee predicted a total sell-out by 11 PM). I don't understand why Apple doesn't put proper cash checkout stations in their stores as they certainly have the volume. I was even more dumbfounded when I heard that Apple Stores don't accept cash. To restate in different words: An American business does not accept federally issued paper currency. While the store layout and concept of not having cash registers is pretty neat, it is also remarkably inefficient, especially when there was no imminent shortage of product. Customers who were even buying iPods were forced to wait in the lines outside of the store. I asked one iPod customer why he was even putting up with the B.S. and he agreed and immediately left for a Best Buy.

Back on topic, I upgraded my first generation 4 GB iPhone for a 16 GB 3GS and the difference is day and night. This thing is blazingly fast in comparison and the Compass feature, when incorporated with Google Maps is a very powerful addition. Good luck to everyone still on the hunt!
 
This may seem like a diatribe not related to the thread but my 3GS buying experience has me pissed.

I reserved my 3GS on 6/9 and went to the Apple Store at 6 PM to pick it up. I had to wait one hour in a line to even get into the store. Like many around the country, my Apple store decided to segregate those who reserved the phone with those who didn't into 2 separate lines. The reason? There were plenty of iPhones available (although the hipster Apple employee predicted a total sell-out by 11 PM). I don't understand why Apple doesn't put proper cash checkout stations in their stores as they certainly have the volume. I was even more dumbfounded when I heard that Apple Stores don't accept cash. To restate in different words: An American business does not accept federally issued paper currency. While the store layout and concept of not having cash registers is pretty neat, it is also remarkably inefficient, especially when there was no imminent shortage of product. Customers who were even buying iPods were forced to wait in the lines outside of the store. I asked one iPod customer why he was even putting up with the B.S. and he agreed and immediately left for a Best Buy.

Back on topic, I upgraded my first generation 4 GB iPhone for a 16 GB 3GS and the difference is day and night. This thing is blazingly fast in comparison and the Compass feature, when incorporated with Google Maps is a very powerful addition. Good luck to everyone still on the hunt!

You chose to not have it shipped to you and then you complain about it?
 
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