iPod Touch Users Are Hosed

Well, it looks as if the iPhone activation chaos is finally dying down, and people have been able to activate on their own at home and other have been able to update their firmware.  One of my friends managed to update his first gen iPhone early today, while another friend’s got ‘bricked’=crashed after the phone was wiped but before the new firmware was installed.  Apparently the best way to remedy this situation is to plug the phone in and keep trying to upate it every so often, and eventually you get lucky.  Said friend managed it not too long ago.

However, when it comes to updating the iPod Touch, there are still issues.  Apple still offers a link to launch iTunes and download the upgrade, but since the last post it’s alternately completely frozen my Mac and given me the same iTunes error as last time.  Darn it, Apple!  iPod Touch users want some love, too!

Still no word on when the Touch users-who are required to pay $10 USD for their upgrade-will be given the chance to hand over more of their cash to Apple.  I sigh as I write it, because the majority of us still will.

Haven’t heard anything about Ed’s situation either, but I assume when he got the phone he would be calling me from it, so perhaps none in stock or just no dice with AT&T, here’s hoping the former.

I’ve been sitting in front of this blasted thing all day, monitoring the chaos and blogging about it for who knows why, going to the launch, and refreshing iTunes to see if my upgrade is available yet.

It’s been a long day, and I never did get the sleep I wanted to get earlier.  I must try to go move around outside of the digital world before practice, methinks.

Let me know if the iPod Touch 2.0 starts working at some point.

the Internet is Broken.

Well, everything on the internet seems to be broken today.

The AT&T servers are going down, while Apple iTunes is also turning back errors for the iPod Touch update still.
Also, the TUAW live blog from the Apple Store in Colorado crashed earlier, and Facebook just went down as well.

When I was at the Apple Store earlier today they had to block access to the Keystone Store’s network because there were way too many people hopping on the WiFI via every known Mac imaginable, including my MacBook Pro and iPod Touch, several MacBooks, more than several more MacBook Pros, and an endless supply of first gen iPhones, so things are getting pretty crazy.

I’m glad wordpress is still up as well as Google (which is really unaffected).  I bet Twitter is going nuts, though.

iPhone Launch

Just back from the Apple Store at Keystone, with bad news.

AT&T has an obnoxious rule that you can’t get the iPhone at the subsidized price ($199) if you haven’t had your contract for 21 months or more.  This proved problematic for Ed, as they wanted him to pay $399 for the unsubsidized phone, which he, of course, was unwilling to pay.  As such, we came back (semi) empty handed, although with our respective prizes. I was-am-disappointed with their lack of t-shirts for this product launch!  Several people had similar issues to Ed, and they all appeared to be being turned away at the Genius Bar in store, while they were occupying a line into AT&T somewhere.

From what I’ve been reading recently, it appears that some places are having trouble with iPhone activation, enough that they’ve been sending some phones home with users unactivated which AT&T and Apple seemed to be dedicated to forbidding.  Apparently AT&T’s servers are having issues (they are run on Windows, of course).

The iPod Touch software update is supposedly available through this link (will launch iTunes), but my tests and others have come back with big fat zeros: aka, this message:

So I guess it’s not working yet.  Apple.com/ipodtouch/appstore is where the iTunes launching link comes from, and I’ve resorted to launching it, since iTunes is telling me now that my iPod’s version is the current one (it’s not).  Originally once I chose “check for updates” they offered a “you’re eligible for a 2.0 upgrade” and a learn more button, at which point it gave me the same error as ^.  So who knows.

As for me, I’ve been up since 4 after being up until midnight, so I think I might go back to bed.  Happy iPhone hunting!

Apple Store 2.0

Here we are waiting in line at the Apple store, this time it’s a quarter to launch time. Ed managed to win a KVM switch in the prelaunch activities and I was given a nano casefor juggling vitamin waters-I knew that skill would come in handy, but I don’t have a nano, hah. Vitamin Water was sponsoring the launch and giving out free waters. Check their website, I might be on there: someone was taking photos/video for the company

We met a couple of guys in line, a communications pastor from Indy and another guy who works as a software developer for a medical imaging company, I believe. They’re getting a black and a white iPhone, respectively. Ed’s gunning for a white, so it looks like white for the win!

All right, posting from iPod Touch and it’s ten ’til. Next time I post Ed should have an iPhone.

Apple Store

It’s 6:30 in the morning and I’m sitting inside the Keystone Mall with Ed, waiting in line for the iPhone 3G launch.  There’re about 60 or so people ahead of us and fifteen behind, mostly waiting with MacBook Pros on lap.  Ed edited the Eppa Eppa Foil logo while we were waiting.  Right now the Apple guys are just starting to get their game on.  I see people with headphones and all sorts of devices.  One Apple employee is videotaping everyone, and encouraging us to be loud.  Somebody was calling for a set of speakers earlier, and I snapped this screenshot of all the shared computers on the network:

It’s great fun.  Calls for who’s selling their old phones, people passing around information, good fun for a launch.  As far as I’ve seen, 2.0 hasn’t been released officially yet, and I’m still waiting to update my iPod.  More updates as events warrant!

There’s also a Starbucks lady wandering around offering coffee-apparently Apple is paying, so hey.  We stopped at a Starbucks on the way up, though, so I’ve already had my fix for the day.