AT&T Works to Fix iPhone Activation Woes

Sat Jun 30, 2007 7:03 PM EDT

business, technology, apple, unknown, iphone, apple-inc

May Wong, AP Technology Writer

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2.8

0.7

{"commentId":827443,"authorDomain":"crispyside"}

toddyp

Vast majority? That's PR buzz... if the minority had an issue we'd all be activated by now. The response I've received on each of my four calls to AT&T is that they are literally inundated and were unprepared.

{"commentId":827443,"threadId":"120224","contentId":"811755","authorDomain":"crispyside"}

1 vote

#1 - Sat Jun 30, 2007 11:16 PM EDT

{"commentId":827454,"authorDomain":"crispyside"}

toddyp

I've been a business and retail Cingular customer for years with multiple lines but I feel like Tim. We waited for three hours to spend $640 only to look at black, lifeless technology... Thanks AT&T, you're the best!

{"commentId":827454,"threadId":"120224","contentId":"811755","authorDomain":"crispyside"}

1 vote

#1.1 - Sat Jun 30, 2007 11:20 PM EDT

{"commentId":827731,"authorDomain":"brainstewerz"}

brainstewerz

apple made a mistake by choosing at&t as a carrier. in fact apple would do better to buy up a carrier and control it all themselves; they'd do a much better job at it.

{"commentId":827731,"threadId":"120224","contentId":"811755","authorDomain":"brainstewerz"}

#2 - Sun Jul 1, 2007 2:01 AM EDT

{"commentId":829903,"authorDomain":"brianford"}

Brian Ford

"The experience of the activation is unacceptable," Johnson said. "It all just reeks of ill-preparedness to me."

Something tells me he's accepted it.

For what it's worth. Activation on my phone took about 3 minutes. Bought on Saturday, activated on Saturday. Not a hitch.

Frankly, considering the number of activations, this seems like small potatoes as far as possible problems.

{"commentId":829903,"threadId":"120224","contentId":"811755","authorDomain":"brianford"}

3 votes

#3 - Sun Jul 1, 2007 10:55 PM EDT

{"commentId":830126,"authorDomain":"spiffie"}

spiffie

Review coming?

{"commentId":830126,"threadId":"120224","contentId":"811755","authorDomain":"spiffie"}

1 vote

#3.1 - Mon Jul 2, 2007 12:38 AM EDT

{"commentId":830243,"authorDomain":"DrJuice"}

Dr Juice

apple made a mistake by choosing at&t as a carrier. in fact apple would do better to buy up a carrier and control it all themselves; they'd do a much better job at it.

Apple did ask Verizon first, but they wouldn't accept the terms Apple was offering. I don't think they asked anyone else aside from then-Cingular and Verizon.

And Apple may be doing well, but I highly, highly doubt they have the funds to buy out an entire mobile company, and MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operators) don't seem to do well. Both ESPN Mobile and Amp'd have closed.

{"commentId":830243,"threadId":"120224","contentId":"811755","authorDomain":"DrJuice"}

#4 - Mon Jul 2, 2007 1:38 AM EDT

{"commentId":831666,"authorDomain":"kikaiju"}

kikaiju

Well ESPN closed because they aimed at a niche customer who wasn't there. They thought sports fanatics would pay extra for instant sports info. They forgot that sports fanatics already have sources of instant sport info and probably have existing cell contracts. Why change?

ESPN might think very highly of itself but the truth is that most people don't care all that much about sports. They get ESPN on cable TV because they weren't offered a choice to not get it. The cell phone marketplace is quite different than cable TV.

Virgin Mobile USA does pretty well with their MVNO. Given that Verizon caps downloads and Sprint doesn't, Sprint would have been the wiser choice for Apple. I doubt Sprint's customer service would be any better than ATT's however.

{"commentId":831666,"threadId":"120224","contentId":"811755","authorDomain":"kikaiju"}

#4.1 - Mon Jul 2, 2007 3:09 PM EDT

{"commentId":836902,"authorDomain":"DrJuice"}

Dr Juice

Sprint isn't GSM though, and I recall reading an interview with Jobs saying they wanted to go with a GSM carrier here in the US because GSM is pretty much standard everywhere else.

I had forgotten about Virgin Mobile, and I think Boost is doing all right too.

{"commentId":836902,"threadId":"120224","contentId":"811755","authorDomain":"DrJuice"}

#4.2 - Wed Jul 4, 2007 9:23 AM EDT

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Frustrations mount among new iPhone owners (warning: very bad words in thread)	Yahoo! News	Mon Jul 2	21
Eager Customers Finally Get iPhones	Associated Press	Fri Jun 29	3
Talkety to provide iPhone VOIP services	MacNN \| The Macintosh News Network	Thu Jun 28	5
Apple denies reports of Universal's iTunes standoff	Apple Insider	Tue Jul 3	2
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