What I wouldn't give to see their actual network PERFORMANCE stats alongside those financials. As soon as I see a truly viable smartphone alternative on another network I am DONE with AT&T.

I just don't understand the general attitude towards the app store by users (and bloggers). There is crappy software everywhere for every conceivable platform, and lots of developers and VCs making lots of money off of it. And there's lots of good software around that never sees the light of day. Why should the app store be any different than the rest of the free market economy?

I was really blown away by the reaction to the "I Am Rich" application. So what?! Let the guy put the app in there. Only a few people will buy it and it will shortly fade into the bowels of the app store. Kudos to Apple for creating the iPhone phenomenon and having people get all up in arms about their app store, but it just seems silly to me.

Of course Apple should do some QC on the apps going in, but other than making sure it meets technical and legal standards they should just let the economy sort it out. The app store is not some sacred grail meant to house all of our hopes and dreams for a peaceful, loving world . It's just a mechanism to distribute software.

All that said, I do wish Apple would beef up how users can interact with the app store. For one, don't allow people to post a review of an app unless they buy it. How sick are you of one-star reviews that say "this looks dumb and it's too expensive." Two, enhance the search options . Third ... well, I've already spent enough time on all this.

Chairs?! They get chairs?! and it's inside?! What?! Like, with a roof?! and airconditioning?! We may have won our independence, but those Brits now how do a queue right!

This does look decent, but I will definitely wait a while to let things mature. Or I'll just jail break my phone and handle it that way. Now, give me True Crypt on the iPhone and I would be a happy, happy man (but I'm not holding my breath).

Folks in the Boulder, CO Apple store were awesome!
- Stood in line for about 2.5 hours (got in line at 3:30pm).
- Got the 3rd-to-last black 16GB that day (Friday)
- During the sales/activation process the woman helping me (who was great) got an error on her wireless checkout unit that said she had to call AT&T
- Long story short I & the apple rep spent another 2 hours trying to get the 16GB black phone up and running. The AT&T store is right across the street from the Apple store so it went like this after the error: she called AT&T, we walked over to the AT&T store, we went back to the Apple store, we went back to the AT&T store, we went back to the Apple store.
- The problem was that my account got activated on AT&T but the phone itself was in some kind of digital limbo in Apple's system so she couldn't finalize the transaction, nor could void it or start over or ANYTHING. Apparently this happened to several people that day (in addition to all the other problems reported in the news).
- By the time all that was over there were no more 16GB black phones left, so in the end she gave me an 8GB black phone and said to just come and exchange it when the get more 16GB phones in (which they didn't have today (Saturday)).

As for that 16GB phone that we tried to activate - it ended up in a big tub in the Apple store's back room with all the other phones that couldn't be activated. They all had to be shipped back to some central corporate location to be dealt with. I assume this is all because AT&T is really trying to prevent as many unlocked phones from getting out there as possible. To me, that seems like a lovely exercise in futility which will waste a lot of their money and not make much of a dent in the unlocked phone trade.

All in all, I chalk most of the hassle I had up to the price I pay for going out on day 1. However, I am appalled at how both Apple & AT&T corporate gave their people in the field no ability to solve problems "on the ground." Once that error happened (in THEIR system), the phone was useless - to me, to Apple and to AT&T. Why would you implement a corporate strategy that renders perfectly good inventory useless? Maybe because you're Apple and AT&T and you just care about your bottom line more than you care about your customers and field employees. Sad but true.

Once I had the activated 8GB phone, all has been well. It's my first iPhone (first Apple product, for that matter). There are certainly some glaring omissions from the software, but at least those can be remedied by updates and 3rd party apps.

Here was my experience in Boulder, CO.
- Stood in line for about 2.5 hours (got in line at 3:30pm).
- Got the 3rd-to-last black 16GB that day (Friday)
- During the sales/activation process the woman helping me (who was great) got an error on her wireless checkout unit that said she had to call AT&T
- Long story short I & the apple rep spent another 2 hours trying to get the 16GB black phone up and running. The AT&T store is right across the street from the Apple store so it went like this after the error: she called AT&T, we walked over to the AT&T store, we went back to the Apple store, we went back to the AT&T store, we went back to the Apple store.
- The problem was that my account got activated on AT&T but the phone itself was in some kind of digital limbo in Apple's system so she couldn't finalize the transaction, nor could void it or start over or ANYTHING. Apparently this happened to several people that day (in addition to all the other problems reported in the news).
- By the time all that was over there were no more 16GB black phones left, so in the end she gave me an 8GB black phone and said to just come and exchange it when the get more 16GB phones in (which they didn't have today (Saturday)).

As for that 16GB phone that we tried to activate - it ended up in a big tub in the Apple store's back room with all the other phones that couldn't be activated. They all had to be shipped back to some central corporate location to be dealt with. I assume this is all because AT&T is really trying to prevent as many unlocked phones from getting out there as possible. To me, that seems like a lovely exercise in futility which will waste a lot of their money and not make much of a dent in the unlocked phone trade.

All in all, I chalk most of the hassle I had up to the price I pay for going out on day 1. However, I am appalled at how both Apple & AT&T corporate gave their people in the field no ability to solve problems "on the ground." Once that error happened (in THEIR system), the phone useless - to me, to Apple and to AT&T. Why would you implement a corporate strategy that renders inventory useless, when in fact it is perfectly fine? Maybe because you're Apple and AT&T and you just care about your bottom line more than you care about your customers and field employees. Sad but true.

Once I had the activated 8GB phone, all has been well. It's my first iPhone (first Apple product, for that matter). There are certainly some glaring omissions from the software, but at least those can be remedied by updates and 3rd party apps.

A note on Exchange. I got the 450 minute personal plan (not enterprise/corporate plan). In exploring the phone I ran into the server setup area and for the heck of it I just put my company's Exchange info. in. Low and behold, there appeared my contacts and calendars, right over the air. All my folders synced without me having to do anything. My calendar looked great (no duplicates). Syncing seems to be keeping up just dandy, but we'll see how it keeps up during the work week. Now, I'm no techie but I *think* our Exchange server is outside of our firewall, so perhaps that's why I am able to do this on a personal plan. But, at this point, I sure ain't complaining.

One last comment, re: the app store - for the love of all that it is good and wholesome, if you haven't bought and tried the app, don't write a freakin' review. Go browse for yourself and see how many "Didn't buy it 'cause it looks dumb" reviews you find. I'll tell you what the true killer app is for the interet, it's called a "tool filter" and it keeps all the tools from posting their idiotic ramblings anywhere.

What's strange in all the iPhone 3G GPS discussions I'm seeing is that no one is mentioning AT&T's Navigator service (http://www.wireless.att.com/source/uconnect/navigator/). I have to guess that AT&T had something to do with the SDK restriction on turn-by-turn apps, and I also have to guess that they're not going to let TomTom release a turn-by-turn app for the iPhone either. Especially with the subsidizing of the 3G, AT&T is going to definitely want to protect its opportunities for increased revenue through services like Navigator.

A-GPS = Assisted GPS. It is just regular GPS in combination with cell tower positioning. I don't think WiFi and IP location are technically considered part of A-GPS. Just do a web search for more info.

One thing that no one has mentioned is AT&T's Navigator service. Perhaps AT&T had a little say in prohibiting real-time navigation applications so that they can force people to buy the Navigator service? If that was the case then I'd say we can definitely expect the SDK prohibition to remain in place so that AT&T can make some money.

Jigsaw - capture white board information - gotta have it!