Apple Craps On Early Adopters Once More

Yesterday was the much anticipated release of the new iPhone 3G, the latest incarnation of Apple's uberphone. Last year's release was spectacular as people wanted to be the first on their block to have this revolutionary pocket computer. This year has proven no different.

About a month or so after its release, Apple dropped the prices on the iPhone citing that is the norm in the tech world. Despite this being true, the nerd rage of the masses - who camped out for not mere hours but days - reached the ears of Steve Jobs. He announced that all of these early adopters would be credited the drop in price. The people who waited a month or so still laughed at them.

Here we are a little more than a year later and the new iPhone has created a very strong buzz. It looks virtually identical to the ver.1 but now has an additional color if you decide to get the 16GB version - white. The big selling features for ver. 2 of the iPhone are 3G speeds which are on average 2.8 times faster than the first version's EDGE technology and the inclusion of GPS. Apple has also released an update to the iPhones software naming it 2.0 and this has enabled users to install software applications which are available from the iTunes store.

Unlike the first version of the iPhone, activation is now required in-store. This is where Apple's most devoted fans have run into a problem - their servers are not working. That's right folks, the early adopters are shelling out the cash for this "must have" phone and the servers won't allow the phones to sync, thus rendering it useless. There were widespread occurrences of stores not even being able to ring customers up. People who had spent so much time in line were leaving after deciding to come back when everything worked. The brave souls who toughed it out and tried to activate could only stare at their expensvie, fruit emblazoned brick. The nerd rage was overwhelming.

People who spent all of that time in line to have bragging rights about owning the new phone can only make emergency calls with them. This is a rare customer relations nightmare for both Apple and AT&T(the iPhone's sole American distributor) who each tout the reliability of their products. This would be a great time for a rival company to make a "mac vs. pc" styled commercial for their cellular service.

The iPhone is a wonderful device. The world knows this and it was released today in 22 countries. Technical snafus do happen, but this is really embarrassing for Apple, especially with all of the advertising and expectations. Yet, once again, it only goes to show that being an early adopter of the iPhone really isn't worth it.