Cognitive Friction

Science fiction author William Gibson said The future is already here - it is just unevenly distributed. The same could be said of Apple’s long awaited iPhone 3G, which launched last Friday. Although I had pre-ordered a phone at the start of the month, I came away empty handed.

iPhone 3G - still waiting

I turned up at O2’s Henry Street retail store at 8.00 am on the day of the launch. They normally open 9.30, but the O2 website publicized a 9.00 am opening. By 9.00, there was a line of about 20 people, including me and my colleague Ciarán but the store didn’t open until 9.35. The manager unlocked the door and stood there to advise people with no pre-order that they would not be getting phones today. I had heard on the grapevine earlier that morning that this store had exactly 11 models in stock, a report that proved spot on. Those levels of stock were typical in Irish stores: 10 phones here, 14 there. Pathetic.

At the counter, the assistant showed me her pre-order spreadsheet. It had 11 names at the top highlighted green – those getting a phone that morning – and about 20 names below that highlighted red. I was about halfway down the red list. No phone for me. I changed my pre-order to a 16 GB model and was told I might get my phone Tuesday, maybe, they’d give me a call. Folks with no pre-orders were told they’d have to wait two weeks, maybe more.

I was disappointed, naturally, I’d been waiting two weeks since I prudently pre-ordered my phone to pick it up on launch day, and took time off work to stand in line. Worse, folks who didn’t pre-order at all, but went to stand in line early at Car Phone Warehouse, were lucky enough to get their phone that day.

It’s not the end of the world, I know, but I feel Apple handled this launch really badly. The predictable but unmanaged server load, the resulting activation debacle, the poor levels of stock, all add up to a really bad user experience. In fact, I’d say Apple’s handling of this launch sucked, and to prove it I ran a poll over on the forums at the maccast.

9 out of...er...9 said the iPhone 3G launch sucked

As you can see above, most people (55% as of 14^th July) also reckon this launch sucked while a further 33% were less than happy. So what’s the fall out for Apple here? Probably nothing. Personally, I can’t wait to get my phone and will probably forget how much I griped about the launch as soon as I pick it up. Watch this space.

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