On Saturday, July 12, 2008, I went to the Apple Store on 5th Ave. in Manhattan. This location is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. So how come I couldn’t go in?
The answer: because hundreds of people were lined up outside waiting to buy the new iPhone 3G and the Apple Store employees were only letting a few people into the store at a time. People like me who weren’t buying an iPhone had to wait in a separate line. The entire ordeal was ridiculous and unnecessary.
I hate waiting in line for five minutes at the grocery store, yet these fools were perfectly happy waiting in line for eight or nine hours to buy a telephone. You’d think it were a brand new invention.
What’s even more stupid is most of these idiots already have an iPhone from a year ago that’s 99% identical to the new one.
Evidently these people have no life. I suppose it’s no different than the people who wait for days on line for video games, movie premieres, sports or music tickets? Well I guess waiting for tickets is a little different, because otherwise you won’t get any. But still, if I have to wait for a couple more days, I don’t care. 6 months from now, whether you got it yesterday or a week from now, you won’t even remember! The only thing is if Apple does a Nintendo and doesn’t manufacture enough units to meet demand.
There is this myth that Apple is the “people’s company” and the “anti corporation”, which is complete bs. All these hipsters out there say that Apple is liberal and green and say “hey Steve Jobs wears jeans, which means he’s hip!” All lies. Apple only cares about the bottom line, which is why we have 20 iterations of the Ipod and 2 iterations of the Iphone already. That’s a really green company for you. I’m sure we can fill up many landfills with all the disposed Ipods. Also, if your battery dies in your Ipod, which happens frequently, you have to get a new one. God forbid Apple would sell replacement batteries that you can put in yourself. The computers are way overpriced for what you get. People complain about Microsoft and Windows, but Macs are just as glitchy. My work computer is a PowerMac and it completley sucks. It crashes and is so slow. Also, good luck modifiying your Apple product. “Apple is a liberal company, right.” They have given a whooping $1,000 contribution to the Democratic party per year, which is the price of 3 Iphones. I’m so sick of the Apple fanboys who try to defend their corporation.
Dennis, I’m no Apple fan. As I’ve said on the show, my beef goes back to the 1980’s and the Apple II, which had this baseless claim as the ideal student/children’s computer. They cost tons more money, but probably lobbied and bribed state school officials. The local ones wouldn’t have known an Apple computer from a hole in the ground. Instead we should have been using Commodore’s or even Atari’s, but god forbid a “Game” computer. Since then, I’ve bought ZERO, that’s right not one single thing sold by Apple. I simply have no use for any of them. Since games and everything else run better on PC’s, no need for a Mac. There are plenty of cheaper MP3 players, no need for iPod. I won’t even get into the iPhone, other than again to say that Blackberry phones for a business are better because their host/server software is better as well. My personal phone is a Sony, because it had the best camera/MP3 abilities at the time a year and a half ago. In reality, Nokia has been making the best multimedia phones for years, but American Telecoms won’t carry them.
Rob, what were you doing at the Apple store? Why didn’t you leave immediately? Next time use the internet!
Dennis, you’re right. A green company that cares about its customers wouldn’t release new versions of its products every six to twelve months and then hype them up like crazy, especially since those new products are almost identical to the previous ones.
I remember last year, the iPhone was supposed to be the greatest thing ever. Now, the new iPhone 3G is supposed to be the greatest thing ever. Is there really a big difference between the two versions? Or are people just falling for more hype, wasting more money, and contributing more to garbage dumps?
You’re right about Apple computers being overpriced, too. Now that Macs contain the exact same parts as Dells and HPs, why do they still cost twice as much?
Greg, I went to the Apple Store because I was working on a graphics job and needed a device to profile and calibrate my home computer monitor. B&H Photo is closed on Saturdays and the Apple Store was the nearest place I knew that sells them.
Of course, after waiting in line and finally making it into the store, I found out there weren’t any left in stock. The Paunch luck strikes again.
D’oh! One thing I just thought about….is the hardware in the iPhone 3G the same as the first one? If so, why get a new one, just upgrade the firmware or something, right? If not, well that’s absurd on Apple’s part.
Greg, I’m not sure if the iPhone 3G hardware is different from the original iPhone. I do know that the iPhone 3G is plastic, while the original one was metal. Also, most of the new software on the iPhone 3G is available for the original one, too.