Toronto iPhone launch turns into a debacle
Having had some time to reflect on the Toronto iPhone launch and getting some sleep (well a nap of a few hours) I am going to be posting some more detailed accounts of the night and morning.
FIRSTLY I would like to point out that I am angered by the fact that Rogers quickly turned what should have been an event for all the customers who were excited enough to line up in the rain for hours on end into a media circus where the only person that really mattered to Rogers and most of the swarm of TV, Radio and newspaper reporters (there were some notable exceptions) was the first few people in line, who were poked and prodded for hours on end. Meanwhile further down the line Rogers staff members were explaining to disappointed people that they had ran out of the 16gb model and had limited amounts of the 8gb left – if you wanted a 16gb you were advised to go to another store!
As the morning continued it became clear to me they had not intention of ever clearly stating how many phones they had to those in line (100 in total) because they needed the people at the back to stay in line to look good for the cameras.
Once I get some more rest I will be able to write a lot more, with more detailed observations but for now here is a nice slide-show of images from the event.
If you want to see high resolution versions please see this set on flickr
Hello Guys at RGBFilter:
This is Jesse, the one dude you interviewed outside the Adidas store on the corner of Yonge & Dundas (you better post that video! :P)
Just wanted to make you guys aware that we left at around 4:00 AM, my girlfriend and I, and went to the Rogers PLUS Store on Bay & Adelaide (a ten minute walk from Yonge & Dundas).
That store had about 6-7 people lined up for it, and once we got there, the line up didn’t grow until 7:00 AM. The store opened one hour later, BUT we were processed in 20 minutes from when the store opened up.
In comparison, the person who we were talking with at the Y&D lineup, George, got his iPhone 6 hours after lining up (including factoring outages, etc etc).
Haha, suckers! =D
PS: Thanks for the pizza!
Hey Jesse.
Alex had some hard drive issues as he was offloading videos that he recorded. I’m hoping he’s got it sorted out so I can go through the rest of it (I got about half the footage that was shot).
Hey Jesse
I’ll be posting something later today about my experience getting activated. As Alex says…debacle 🙂
Friend of mine at the office felt the need to call me Friday evening to let me know that a friend of HIS left the office at 5:30, walked over to Dufferin Mall, walked into a Rogers store at about 6:15 and picked up a black 16gb. No line. Le sigh.
Still, hanging out in line was a blast 🙂
Hanging out in line was a blast, until it really started to rain. =P Plus I got some good old business development done, which is cool, and picked up a few new blogs on the way, most notably this one. I’ll be checking in on you guys frequently now, I like this place. =) Keep up the good work guys, and I hope my video works!