Comments on: Europe Sells Out at iPhone 3G Launch

By: Joel

Joel — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 09:03:19 +0000

Probably because there aren’t. I’ve found there’s always a vocal minority who complain about any upgrade. PPC -> Intel, Tiger -> Leopard, and now 1.x to 2.x. Why does this happen…? Because people get attached to the old way of doing things. I’ve also found that if one expects to see bugs in a new release one does bugs. But if you investigate them its more to do with perceptions than reality…

By: jodyfanning

jodyfanning — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 07:00:10 +0000

How come I haven’t see any comments on any of the mac sites about the fact that the 2.0 firmware is completely full of bugs and most of the new apps crash regularly.

Everyone was trashing other phone companies over things like this and that Apple was going to rescue the user from the depths of hell.

I have even seen people wanting to go back to 1.1.4 firmware.

http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/18/iphone-3g-and-firmware-2-0-one-week-later/

By: Rich

Rich — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 15:27:59 +0000

“given that Nokia’s closest phones are far more expensive and running the old Symbian dog. At least Nokia phones have a fake LED flash and take enormously-sized mobile pics so you don’t need to carry an extra camera (unless you want to take actual photos that is!).”

*sigh*

Why are you comparing Apples [sic] and Oranges again? Nokia’s closest model is only more expensive if you’re comparing Nokia’s unlocked and unbranded version to Apple’s subsidised and/or locked iPhone. If you’re comparing on contract prices then the iPhone is at least as expensive everywhere in Europe. Even off contract, the Nokia E71 costs £350 unlocked/unbranded compared to O2 UK’s price of £369 for the pre-pay version of the iPhone.

And the latest Nokia phones have real Xenon flashes on them. Take a look at the N82 pictures on Flickr if you want to see what it’s capable of.

I think both sides of the iPhone debate should stop the name calling. Wishful thinking, eh?

By: CSimmons

CSimmons — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 11:42:58 +0000

In my hometown of Stuttgart, Germany, every single retail outlet that carries the iPhone is sold out, that includes all 50 + T-Punkt stores in the greater Stuttgart area, but also the Mac reseller Gravis (Europe’s largest Mac retailer) and the retail chains Saturn and media markt were sold out.

It must also be said that Apple / T-mobile severely understocked Retailers in Germany, probably based on the less-than-stellar performance of the first iPhone. Many shops I visited I was told that they were only allotted 6 - 10 iphones, and the waiting lists were at least 50 deep.

The demand here is crazy.

By: db4dawn

db4dawn — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 23:41:56 +0000

The Apple store in Glasgow had stock in on Sunday a had received stock Saturday & Sunday morning according to the guy who sold me mine.

By: russtic

russtic — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 23:07:59 +0000

well they sold out in the UK almost instantly. Online sales for both o2 and CPW sold out on the Thurs despite a shamefully poor website by o2.

By: jodyfanning

jodyfanning — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 07:57:56 +0000

It was widely commented that individual shops had just a few phones each to sell and it seems that stocks of the 16GB version were very limited.

But anyway, the plans in Finland were terrible compared to other mobile operators. It is easy to get a normal 3G phone for free with all-you-can-eat data for about 55EUR a month. The iPhone plans were much more expensive than that, plus you had to pay for the phone.

It is easy to see that all operators world-wide were taking advantage of the hype to make a quick buck (or Euro).

By: brisance

brisance — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 03:31:55 +0000

>>“We’ve learned and struggled for a few years here figuring out how to make a decent phone,” he said. “PC guys are not going to just figure this out. They’re not going to just walk in.’”<<

And that’s precisely why Palm has not been on the radar for the longest time. My last Palm was a m505 that interested me for the better part of a week. I have not used it in years.

Palm can continue to flounder by trying to invent a better “phone”. And be bound by the pre-conceived limitations of a “phone”.

Steve Jobs has been talking about this from the very beginning yet his competitors/detractors are not grokking it. Yes it can make phone calls, play media, manage contacts etc. These are just things people see on the surface. But the iPhone is so much more. The only mainstream, non-tech journalist I’ve read who gets it is Walt Mossberg.

The iPhone is a bit of a misnomer. Apple has to dumb it down so ordinary people think of it as a phone.

It really is an ultra-portable Mac.

By: Boregard

Boregard — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 17:21:29 +0000

Annecdotal evidence is, well, annecdotal. Time tells the tale.

Let us not forget just how wrong people can be in predicting success or lack thereof with a new product, as Colligan, CEO of Palm, was quoted on announcing on the iPhone:

Quote from San Jose Mercury News follows:

Colligan laughed off the idea that any company — including the wildly popular Apple Computer — could easily win customers in the finicky smart-phone sector.

“We’ve learned and struggled for a few years here figuring out how to make a decent phone,” he said. “PC guys are not going to just figure this out. They’re not going to just walk in.’”

By: gus2000

gus2000 — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 16:08:11 +0000

According to Apple, they sold over 1 million 3G iPhones this weekend. It took over 2 months to reach that milestone after last year’s launch.

Apple would not intentionally understock the stores just as a “publicity stunt”, since there is far more value in actual sales. Besides, they couldn’t possibly get any more publicity without going offworld.

Looks like 10M phones for 2008 will be no problem. Are you paying attention, Richard Sprague?