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May 25, 2007

iphone

iPhone waiting lists starting

Posted May. 25, ’07, 6:44 AM PT by Derik DeLong
Category | iPhone

AT&T Macworld is reporting that AT&T phone stores (stop calling it Cingular or Steve will feature their CEO in another keynote) are starting waiting lists despite the inability to pre-order the device. I’m sure these decisions are being made like this.

“Hello. Welcome to Cingular.”

“Hi, can I order the iPhone yet?”

“No.”

One day passes.

“Hello. Welcome to Cingular.”

“Hi, can I order the iPhone yet?”

“No.”

Repeat for about a week.

“Hello. Welcome to AT&T.”

“Hi, can I order the iPhone yet?”

“If I put you on a waiting list, will you stop asking?.”

“Sure.”

Cingular rep pretends to write down customer information.

I don’t envy AT&T employees. It must be mind bending to field these questions endlessly with Apple and AT&T itself being so tight-lipped about most practical details of the iPhone.


3 Comments

kdo Author Profile Page said:

good for them! AT&T is being absolutely moronic for not addressing this. they obviously haven't had a product with this much hype before and its apparent that they are going to be ill-equipped to handle it during the early stages of the launch.

oh... and until they stop using cingular.com and that annoying and obnoxious orange asterisk-guy logo, they're still cingular... ;)

May 25, 2007 7:06 AM
George said:

I think this is more of an Apple issue than an AT&T issue. I have no doubt that AT&T would love to start taking preorders on the iPhone but are forbidden to do so by Apple (possibly so that preorders don't outnumber the actual number of initially available devices).

I'm sort of thinking Apple doesn't want to give people time to think about the device. They just want them to walk in and buy it, at which point they are stuck with the phone and a 2 year contract. Really, at this point it seems like there should have been word on the actual contract costs, whether a data plan is required and all that. Again I think it's in some ways a trap so that people will rush in to grab the iPhone, and overlook the $100+ monthly services fees attached to fully utilize the device.

May 25, 2007 7:20 AM
Jason said:

Another reason they won't allow pre-orders is because they have not even announced the pricing on the service contracts yet, and that's required with purchase.

May 25, 2007 10:18 AM

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