iPocalypse? Snag Turns iPhones to Bricks
Long lines of disgruntled customers wrapped around city blocks across the globe today as Apple scrambled to fix a glitch in iTunes that prevented iPhone acolytes from activating the next-generation phones they had waited hours, even days, to buy.
The problem caused huge delays at Apple stores and other iPhone service providers worldwide, as store personnel wrestled with the issue and word of the problem spread on the Web. In order for an iPhone to be activated, it must be synced up with iTunes.
Robbie Sikander, a 16-year-old New York resident from Afghanistan, waited in line for three hours at the Apple store on Manhattan's 5th Avenue for the chance to buy his phone, but because of delays, it never happened.
"I've been waiting for three hours. AT&T is just not working," Sikander told ABCNews.com as he walked out of the store. "It made me question Apple. ... "I'm going to come back after lunch to try again."
Tanya Lawrence, a 28-year-old woman from Brooklyn, began waiting in line at 7 a.m. on Friday and was inside the store by 9 a.m. The system, however, was down.
"I was so livid. It was so anticlmatic this morning," she said. "The server was down, so in order to activate the phone we had to log on to iTunes, but that was down too. The buzz word this morning was 'just be patient.'"
As Matthew Pimm, 49, waited in line, he wondered why he had come.
"When it was a little hotter out, after I'd been waiting one and half hours in line, I started questioning whether it was worth it to be here," Pimm said.
Silicon Valley tech analyst Rob Enderle called the situation a PR debacle for typically untouchable Apple.
"They're hitting their most loyal customers. People who are waiting in line," Enderle said. "These folks are going to be kind of [mad]."
Enderle says that while it may not totally discourage hard-core users, it could cause a ripple effect in the cell phone market.
"At this point, there are alternative phones out in the market. You slow down people and get them to think about it. [With service] this is an expensive phone," he said. "A lot of these folks can't afford this phone. Maybe this is just enough to keep them from buying it."
source - abcnews.go.com>
