My iDay Experiences

[ColsTiger]

Thought I would share my experiences from iDay.

We didn't have to spend the night. My son and I checked my at&t store at 8:15 on Thursday night and no one was there except the off duty police officer in his squad car acting as security in case any campers showed. We were ready to camp. Had the cooler filled, the folding chairs in the trunk, the PSP and the laptop in case the line was forming, but thankfully, I could go home and sleep in my own bed.

Woke up at 6 AM, showered and returned to the at&t store after purchasing the morning paper. Got to the at&t store about 6:55 AM and checked in the with policeman to make sure it was okay to start the line. He said, "absolutely!" and he we immediately worked out the ground rules for iDay. Being first has it's perks. He was a great guy and ended up buying four that day for himself, his wife, daughter, and son.

With my son and I sitting there waiting for other to arrive at 7 AM, I started reading through the local paper. The reporter that had called me earlier in the week had done a feature article in the business section of our local paper and once again, my iPHone infatuation was out in print for everyone to read (including my ex-wife! ).

iPhone or Whyphone?

By 8:15 the number three guy shows up and plants his folding chair. Cool Master Sergent from Ft. Benning. About 15 minutes later a family from Miami arrives (mom, daughter - college aged, and son - 16). The daughter was in college about 40 mins away so they decided to buy in Columbus because they thought their chances were better than buying in Miami.

By noon there were 15 people in line and by 3 PM there were 28. The police officer patiently added each person to the list in order as they arrived. Anyone was allowed to go to the bathroom or get a sandwich or drink next door at the Honeybaked Ham restaurant. It was a very laid back approach to waiting on line. The television cameras also started rolling. I was able to avoid them and point them at the cute college girl from Miami. She was glad to give the interview.

Sometime around four my ex-wife calls and fusses about me spending that much money on a phone. Ex-wives don't like their ex-husbands having any spare money whatsoever. I didn't let it deter me from my iPhone mission though as my son and I just looked at each other and rolled our eyes.

As the six o'clock hour approached the at&t guys came out and told us they would be taking us in the store in groups of five. Everyone started cleaning up their area and putting their coolers and chairs back in their cars to make ready for the final event. The police officer made his final count and double-checked his order on the list. He really made it a stress free day. The last count I heard before I went in was 42 people in line.

Finally I went in with my son behind me, the master sergent, and the family of three from Miami. The four of them shopped the new iPhone accessories rack a little, but I was determined to get my iPHone and get it activated as soon as possible. The at&t guys had five register stations set up to wait on five buyers at once. No one that was inside the store had to wait any longer. I went to the data manager's register and purchased my iPhone. He went over the 10% restocking fee clause if I brought it back because I was disappointed during the next 14 days. I said fine I was already aware of it. It's an Apple thing very similar to Circuit City's computer return policy. No problem. He scanned my debit card and I was the first iPhone owner in Columbus, GA. I came out the door and the other people still waiting outside were all clapping and cheering. I pulled the neat little black iPhone box out of the at&t bag and the cheers got even louder. It was really an amazingly euphoric feeling of relief that the wait was finally over for me and close to being over for all of them.

All in all, I was at the at&t store for 11 hours and 18 minutes to get my iPhone. That's not counting the one scouting trip to ask questions back in may or the scouting trip to see if I could find an unsecured WIFI signal to use while waiting.

Got home and was disappointed that I couldn't get it activated through iTunes. Somehow the SIM card was defective, but was told by at&t's iphone support that I could return in the morning and they could swap it out.

Saturday morning at 9 AM I'm right back at the same store. We swapped the SIM and ran the activation process through iTunes again and this time it activated just like they had advertised. Honestly, it took less than three minutes for it to activate and send me the activation text message after inserting the new sim card and running through the process the second time. I don't know whose fault the defective SIM card is, but I know it was an at&t sim and not apple. Either way it shouldn't have happened. Many other have experienced the same problem,

After all that, the phone has been EXCELLENT! I finished the sync process right there in the at&t store before 10 AM. It synced with my Outlook '07 flawlessly. Picked up all my contacts email addresses, phone numbers, physical addresses, birthdates, and even ID pictures. It also synced perfectly with my Outlook '07 calendar. All of that was a tremendous time saver alone. If the activation had been as simple Friday night as it was Saturday morning with the new sim card, it would have been a perfect day. But I'm not gonna let that damper this experience.

Saturday night I went to an Independence Day celebration at Ft. Benning, GA. Everytime I answered a call, or a text message someone would ask me about the iPhone. Many asked if I thought it was worth the $600 and I told them so far it had been worth every penny.

No complaints here (other than the sim problem). Sure it could be even greater with a few more things, but when you get one in your hands, you'll know what I mean. The display and UI will absolutely seal the deal for you. It's truly AMAZING!

[Ace4261991]

great read man. glad you enjoy it thus far i myself have been enjoying it to even though i had to wait a night to get it activated and now im having wi fi issues but beside that i love the thing. its cool how laid back everything was for your line waiting experience when i waited i got there at like 2 30 pm on the 29th and was 18th in line and we all had to sit down in along a wall we could only get up if you told your 'neighbor' to hold your spot or somthing along those lines. but its all good i only waited 3 hours and a half and got my iphone

[ColsTiger]

Cool. Hate to hear about the WIFI problems. I haven't had the first problem. It picked up an unsecured wifi in the at&t store right after I activated it. It was from the sun tan salon next door. Went to my buddy's restaurant and it picked up his wifi right away. Had to type in the WEP security key, but it worked fine. Went to visit a buddy and it picked up his and took his WEP key as well. No problems. Then when I got home with it, it picked up my WIFI and took my WEP key without a hitch.

I have heard of others having wifi problems though. Are you using 8011g or 8011b?

[Ace4261991]

i dont know anything about routers (which doesnt help my problem at all) but on the router itself it says802.11g /2.4GHZ and its a D link router. it worked fine the first few days but ever since this morning it finds my wi fi connection and connects but it still says its using edge. many people have this problem in the Wi Fi section of the forums. i cant seem to fix it

[gcvt]

How did the ex find out you were getting an iPhone? Did you boy give you up?

[ColsTiger]

Originally Posted by gcvt

How did the ex find out you were getting an iPhone? Did you boy give you up?

she read it in the newspaper article I posted.

[kneshoba]

Awesome story, I showed up to my att at 5:30 pm and was number 63 inline at 6:43 I was back at the office by 7:15 made my first text and then a phone call. Then packed up and made my 2 hour commute home.

[ColsTiger]

Originally Posted by kneshoba

Awesome story, I showed up to my att at 5:30 pm and was number 63 inline at 6:43 I was back at the office by 7:15 made my first text and then a phone call. Then packed up and made my 2 hour commute home.

Were you able to get the one your wanted (8 GB or 4 GB)?

[jhowton]

I walked into the Apple store in Woodfield mall at 10:00am on Saturday and walked out with a phone within 5 minutes. No line, no waiting.

[wjp09]

mine was not as interesting as yours cols I went at 6 got my phone at 7