I raced to Best Buy last night after receiving an email at 6:30 PM that it was ready to come home with me. Photo is used courtesy robertregisterphotography.com.
I am “one of those” people. I love all things that encompass what I like to call “convenience technology”. I got in the smart phone loop early and have owned a Treo, Blackberry, Droid and finally, FINALLY (insert gasp and little girl squeal), an iPhone.
I have a slight case of technophobia. I’m sometimes afraid to purchase something for fear of it becoming “old” if a newer model shortly follows. As is the case with the iPhone. My eligible upgrades have never appropriately coincided with an iPhone release.
The fear of a newer model has twice kept me from actively participating in the cool-kid group at budget camp. I have never wanted to speak to someone named Siri as badly as I did last November when my DM and RVP bantered my work-nemesis to elicit the funniest responses. That was it. I didn’t care what I had to do, I would not go into the budget meetings this year without the latest version of the iPhone. I was committed to this declaration and have been eligible for an upgrade since March. I would google “iphone 5″ and often had day dreams about the moment I could finally hold it in my hands.
On Friday September 14th, I stood as the 4th person in line at my nearest Best Buy when the doors opened at 10:00 AM. I was expected at a very important 10:30 AM district meeting roughly 4 miles from the nearest Best Buy. I ended up with an official pre-order and only two minutes late for the meeting. I made no attempts to act remorseful for my tardiness. I proudly told them it was official, I was getting the latest and greatest iPhone on launch day.
Photo used with permission from http://www.robertregisterphotography.com
My Best Buy pre-order was estimated to be available on September 21st. Rumors say that by the time I was in line at Best Buy, a little over six hours after launch, the estimated shipping dates had already been pushed into October. I didn’t know it then, but it was reported to have happened only 50 minutes after launch. At 12:50 AM on 9/21, I received a somewhat comical email from the Senior VP of Best Buy, Shawn Score saying that they did not receive the exact model I ordered. I say comical because as a manager, finding the words to deliver bad news is complicated and delicate. I recognized the pain squeezed in between every line of the letter. Apple reports that their pre-orders topped 2 million in 24-hours. The iPhone 5 doubled the record-setting 4S model only a year ago.
On Monday, 9/24 I stopped into my Best Buy to see if there was any progress. I learned that my store had not yet received a single iPhone 5 for Sprint customers, that they had 64GB models available for purchase for AT& T customers, but had not yet received a single 64GB for Verizon customers. At 6:33 PM last night, I received an email saying that my soon-to-be true love was ready for pick-up. Both of my kids and I screamed with excitement!
At 8:30PM last night I walked out of Best Buy carrying (ever so delicately) the brand new iPhone 5. I felt like I was leaving the hospital with my first-born. Can they really trust me with this thing? I don’t even know how to work it! Since Lifeproof has not yet created the case for the iPhone 5, I’m taking my chances using neoprene and bubble wrap. I still may go get a cheap case just for the estimated 2-3 weeks it will take to get the Lifeproof case in the stores.
A common bar conversation is the need for a time-machine so we could go back in time to buy Apple stock. Was it the recession that kept us thinking that a $140 stock price 5-years ago was just too risky? If we only could have predicted the rise. For the stock holders and analysts, they are looking at a different picture. There is a lot of chatter about the legendary launch falling short of analyst predictions.
I’m excited to try out Apple’s newly branded EarPods. Photos are used with permission from http://www.robertregisterphotography.com
Since I’m a new iPhone person, I have done very little with it yet. At the moment, there are a couple of barriers requiring additional steps. Best Buy did not yet receive the adaptor to use (old) iPod docks and apple stores are sold out and back-ordered. There is also a noted increase in price for the replacement charger. And finally, the wireless stores do not have the required cables to run data transfers from old phones to the new iPhone 5. I’m on my own until I can get onto the tutorials to figure it out. If you are considering purchasing the iPhone, there are many reviews available that dissect the functionality, speed, display and user experience. I think it’s always helpful to read the reviews. I’ll update this entry if I finde a significant challenge.
I haven’t spoken to Siri yet, I accidentally queued her once, but like a shy school-girl I quickly turned it off. I’m waiting for the right time to get to know her.
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