Apple launches iPhone 3G online purchase tool
Filed under: Cellphones
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
MadMike @ Sep 24th 2008 2:38PM
Wow, only 170 days too late.
Bobby @ Sep 24th 2008 2:51PM
hahahahhahaha laughable : still you cannot buy online but now you cannot just come in to store you have to make appointment first !
Philip @ Sep 24th 2008 6:26PM
sorry but this had to be at the top...
so apple has "invented" preordering online... i was sure i could do the same with loads of stores but apparently this deserves a mention on engadget. any other phone could be ordered online and be sent to your door
roole @ Sep 24th 2008 8:54PM
Hey morons (happy to be low-ranked in this dumb socialist commune): Can you home-activate with the piece of Android crap intro-ed today? :-P
warrrennnnn @ Sep 24th 2008 9:02PM
Philip...
Really?
So, by letting people know that Apple is offering a delivery service for their 3G now, and they hadn't before, this is Apple bias?
Come on. No need to grab your torches and pitchforks when the word Apple is at the front of an article. Calm down.
Your comment definitely did NOT need to be at the top. And now your oh-so-important post will be gray. =]
brian @ Sep 24th 2008 2:41PM
so wait.....it's an online tool to purchase an iphone in the store?.....
GadgetTamer @ Sep 24th 2008 2:49PM
Yup, that's what it is...
Tim @ Sep 24th 2008 6:15PM
So, you still have to go to the store?
aardWolf @ Sep 24th 2008 3:02PM
Online Tool a.k.a. a "webpage"
konshuss @ Sep 24th 2008 3:34PM
it's another feather-tickle to the asses of the loyal hundreds who must have some sort of progressive, forward-thinking sounding news every few days. and of course it's a ridiculous idea any company without their cores up the asses would see worth bridging by SHIPPING YOUR ONLINE ORDER TO YOUR HOME.
Shiizun @ Sep 24th 2008 3:47PM
Why would you want to make the same mistake twice??? Of course apple is not going to sell online. ATT and Apple dont want people buy the iphone massively, unlock massively, then ebay massively. That defeats the purpose of monopoly. -_-
John @ Sep 24th 2008 4:41PM
except that you would have to get the contract online too...
Nate @ Sep 24th 2008 2:42PM
In agile development, we would refer to this as a "cake slice." Others might refer to it as "half-assed."
MadMike @ Sep 24th 2008 3:21PM
more like 1/4-assed. halfassed would be an overstatement.
Isaac @ Sep 24th 2008 3:58PM
@MadMike
Can you leave one comment that doesn't insult someone?
konshuss @ Sep 24th 2008 4:14PM
Isaac, can you put the crytowel away and realize he's insulting Apple, and rightly so. take a look around, you see many happy words surrounding this abysmal news?
what's being insulted here...*puts on shades* is _our intelligence_. *YEEEEEAAAAHHHHH!!!*
Jeremy @ Sep 24th 2008 2:44PM
Not only is this kind of yesterday's news, you might want to indicate in the article that this id for the USA only. I just went racing to my online Apple store only to find that it isn't available, most likely because I am not in the USA.
It really is getting a bit much, considering that the iPhone is available around the world, in almost every country where that thing called the "Internet" is also available, that this site consistently acts like it's speaking to an exclusively US audience.
Almost every big Mac site has a large amount of views from places like the UK, Germany, Canada, etc. and I would be amazed if you don't also. Every time you do this kind of thing it's like a big F-you to everyone who isn't a "Yank."
bob sakamano @ Sep 24th 2008 2:49PM
i think by default things are for the USA, and if they relate elsewhere they say
UNNNNless you are fortunate enough to have your own version of Engadget, then you should be checking out your news there!
SimonRichards @ Sep 24th 2008 3:17PM
Since when are things automatically for the USA, on a globally read blog? Living in Britain, I certainly don't automatically think USA when I read something.
Though it was kinda obvious as the web page says AT&T, which we don't even have as a provider.
Chad @ Sep 24th 2008 3:32PM
Well if you were looking at http://www.engadget.co.uk or co.nz or co.ph and the site by default assumed US readers it would be kinda silly but since it is .com which IS by default a US TLD (but not exclusive to the US) it's not such a stretch. Perhaps Engadget should see about getting a new .APL domain.
simon @ Sep 24th 2008 3:42PM
"I just went racing to my online Apple store ..."
Dude, relax, chill, count to 100. Life will go on even without this mobile phone.
SimonRichards @ Sep 24th 2008 3:50PM
@Chad
You mean the same www.engadget.co.uk that does in fact exist but simply redirects to www.engadget.com? Yeah, good thinking, Batman.
UnixSystemsEngineer @ Sep 24th 2008 7:54PM
You went racing to your online Apple store? What, did you burn a lot of calories in the process and want to be remunerated?
MadMike @ Sep 24th 2008 2:44PM
We don't care what number you are. Honestly, so you hit F5, Command-R or Ctrl-R every 5 seconds on Engadget because you have no life.
engadget @ Sep 24th 2008 2:50PM
In other words, In-Store Pickup. This allows you to place your order online and avoid lines just like, say, Best Buy, and pick it up at Customer Service. Just like Best Buy, you will have to wait in line if multiple people are picking up their orders and you also have to have it activated on the spot, but really, how is this so bad? Sure, you can't buy it online and have it shipped to you, but a trip to the Apple store is always fun. Of course if you don't have one locally this wouldn't be as hot of an idea. Gotta love Apple's forward thinking though... Always looking to improve things (NDA/App Store aside of course!)
MikeL @ Sep 24th 2008 2:55PM
hmmm it won't let me change my user name from engadget!
Mike1985 @ Sep 24th 2008 2:59PM
Edit: nevermind, nothing to see here :P I guess it only updates your username on future posts, not past. Sorry everyone!
Klebbentor @ Sep 24th 2008 3:00PM
I've bought a plethora of cellphones over the years, and for all of them, I've never done anything but sit in a showroom while some cornhole activates and sells me the phone I am getting. It sucks, but why is anyone expecting anything different?
Brian @ Sep 24th 2008 4:18PM
I wish i could have in-store activated my gen1 iphone......I bought it when I was about 2000 miles from home on a business trip. My laptop has a weird roaming profile thing for work which meant i couldn't install itunes. It made for a very colorful afternoon involving a lot of cussing, some throwing stuff around the hotel room, slamming my fists onto the table, and after about 3 hours of jumping through hoops I finally got itunes working long enough to activate my phone. :-/ Now I've dropped it so many times I pretty much have to get a 3g.....and a rubber case for it :D
slowburn @ Sep 24th 2008 8:37PM
"Jefe, what is a plethora?"
aardWolf @ Sep 24th 2008 3:01PM
They've had online ordering for business customers for at least 2 months. I get a discount through my employer, and that let me pre-order my wife's phone through the site (I already had one)...
Fed @ Sep 24th 2008 3:05PM
Wow you mean people out there still want this piece of junk? Man..talk about lame.
scoob @ Sep 24th 2008 3:12PM
People who want the best phone on the planet want it. Those who want mediocrity are buying the G1.
konshuss @ Sep 24th 2008 3:29PM
i love the way that image mocks itself by having the second iphone kinda look like a slideout keyboard(which will never happen).
CraigJ @ Sep 24th 2008 4:17PM
Fed, it's OK if you can't afford a decent phone.
dBs @ Sep 24th 2008 3:17PM
What I would like to know is "there when I need it" is the 32GB version of the phone. Hopefully soon!
Laron @ Sep 24th 2008 3:28PM
pointless...
Christy McGrory @ Sep 24th 2008 3:34PM
What the... Apple must have some kind of backup to be this confident about a product.
Chris @ Sep 24th 2008 3:54PM
Can you take this to an AT&T store or Best Buy or does it have to be the almighty Apple Store?
phanbouy @ Sep 24th 2008 3:56PM
holy shit does this mean i can buy an iphone?
iankelleigh @ Sep 24th 2008 3:57PM
"Worried about long lines for the iPhone 3G come this holiday season? Already breaking into cold sweats at the thought of standing knee-deep in snow for three hours so that your loved ones won't be filled with contempt for you? Take heart, consumers -- Apple has you covered."
Yes, because I come to Engadget to hear the latest in fear tactics to get me out there to buy more "stuff". Or are you getting kickbacks from Apple these days?
chris17792 @ Sep 24th 2008 4:09PM
You know... This may be slightly off subject but I thought the software update 2.1 was supposed to improve the dropped call business... I've always been an Apple fan but I had to get rid of this phone. Maybe they just want people to pay for it BEFORE they see it live. I know I wouldn't purchase this version of the phone again. Maybe next round...
Jeremy @ Sep 24th 2008 4:23PM
@ chad
*.com is far from USA only and engadget.ca (my country of choice), is some kind of widget manufacturer.
I wonder what engadget will do if the iPhone is ever made available in China? Overnight there could be more Chinese viewers than North American ones and this kind of parochial reporting will be even less relevant.
Anyway apologies if I seemed like a nut, but it is the 21st century and all and the world is a big varied place that the USA is only a small part of.
matt merritt @ Sep 24th 2008 6:06PM
http://chinese.engadget.com/
It's genius I tell you.
Ken @ Sep 24th 2008 6:11PM
http://cn.engadget.com/
smart ass
mike @ Sep 24th 2008 4:38PM
Who cares?
phanbouy @ Sep 24th 2008 4:56PM
obviously not windows-logo guy
phanbouy @ Sep 24th 2008 4:39PM
it'd be funny if "lowest ranked" was still technically possible.. at like 500 minuses... causing the faded text to just disappear
lanejasper69 @ Sep 24th 2008 8:47PM
That would rule!!! 5 low ranks and you're message just disappears!!!! LOL
chrisaroz @ Sep 24th 2008 4:44PM
Internet Shopping - now less convenient.