Aug 30 2010
iPhone 4: Hype or Annoyance?
If you have tried to call me recently on my cell, no doubt you’ve heard my message that says, “My phone doesn’t ring, so leave a message and I’ll call you back when I’ve noticed that you’ve called.” Yes, I get comments about how I should get my phone fixed/repaired. But it’s not for lack of trying.
I currently have an iPhone 3G that I bought about a year and a half ago. Sadly, I’m a little hard on cell phones, partially because of my job. About 2-3 months ago, I had my cell phone in my hand and went to put it on the kitchen counter, but missed it and it fell on the floor. This hasn’t been the first time that I’ve dropped the phone, but I usually have a case on it. I didn’t this time. The result was that the phone completely functions, short of the fact that the speaker on it no longer works. This means that I can’t use the speaker phone or hear the phone ring.
So, I decided to wait for the iPhone 4.. I knew that there would be hype about it and that it would be hard to find. I have a friend that went to the Apple store in Toronto the day it came out and had a prolonged wait even after the store opened just to get one. I’m eager to get it, but not that eager! 
So, since then, I’ve been popping into various Fido retail locations to see if it’s been in. The first couple weeks I expected it to not be in. But it’s been a month since it’s been released and stores are getting very few in.. And there seems to be no sign of a mass release in the near future..
I went to school for marketing, so I understand the rationale behind building demand and hype about a product such as this. But seriously! For me, this is now becoming an annoyance. Here I am, a customer willing to give money for a product that is being withheld by the manufacturer. I like Apple products, but I’m getting a little pissed. I tried asking the rep in the Fido store in Coquitlam Centre today when did she think that they would have a regular supply. Well, she kept cutting me off and not letting me finish my question. I tried to say that I have no problem waiting, but am I likely waiting a couple weeks before the market is adequately supplied with the phone or am I looking at 3-4 months. I’m sure she gets similar questions all day and every day, and I don’t envy her having to explain it over and over.. But I just need a new phone. One that rings!
So.. If someone from Apple happens to read this, I just want a damn iPhone 4! Stop withholding the product and release it outright. Demand doesn’t need to be built up for a product that you KNOW is going to be in high demand. You are just pissing off a lot of people and wasting their time by going to various retailers looking for it. I do have better things to do with my time than to chase down a product that you apparently want to sell.
START SELLING IT!
It’s not that they’re withholding them, quite to the contrary – they just can’t build them fast enough – that’s the reason why Canada didn’t even get them until a month after the US release, and even then there was still US shortages…and still is.
Look on the bright side, a lot of other countries are still waiting.
Anyhow, best bet is an Apple store – they always get the glut of stock whereas most other retail locations get only a handful at a time.
I have the same gripe about video games. The Japanese market gets everything first, then the U.S. and the rest of Asia, then us… the only people behind us seems to be Europe… unless its built in Europe.