3G iPhone rollout suffering glitches
Posted
Jul 11 2008, 12:36 PM
by
Kim Peterson
Rating:
Uh-oh. Apple's rollout of its highly-anticipated 3G iPhone is hitting some snags this morning. Looks like the "unknown error" message came out of its slumber in the seventh circle of hell and decided to wreak havoc on iPhone and iPod Touch owners. Here's the wording that they see when trying to sync the device in iTunes:
"We could not complete your iTunes store request. An unknown error occurred (-9838)."
I hate those number codes in error messages, because I know they mean something but have no idea what it is. Apple shares are down 2% to $172.66 this morning.
The general consensus is that Apple's activation servers have crashed -- a likely scenario (I think it happened last year?) and one that Apple should have been better prepared for. At News.com, Matt Asay bemoans the fact that he now has "a brick with no ability to call, no contacts, nothing."
IPod Touch owners are fuming trying to update their devices to the newest software. PCWorld details the problem.
The server issue is adding to frustration in lines at Apple and AT&T stores today. Darren Herman has pictures from a store in Soho, N.Y.
Gizmodo calls it the "iPocalypse," and says that AT&T is asking people to sync their new phones later at home. Shares of AT&T are down less than 1% today to $32.61. Reports of activation problems are coming in from Houston, New Jersey, Boston, Atlanta and even Canada.
Bloggers are understandably irate. "I find it astonishing that you have created an upgrade procedure that can fail in a way that leaves the phone useless," one writes to Apple on his blog. "You had 6+ months to prepare for this, so error messages like this are just inexcusable."
I'll update this post as I find out more details. Meanwhile, tell us your experiences with the iPhone and iPod Touch today. What are the lines like in stores? Are error messages driving you crazy?
Update: Several hours later, the activations seem to be up and running. Will everyone forget about this debacle by tomorrow, or has the drama cost Apple in the long term? Apple shares closed at $172.58, down about 2% from yesterday's close. By the way, the stumbles today didn't do anything for BlackBerry maker Research in Motion, whose shares declined more than 6% to $109.79.
