Home Sweet Home

Home at last. We just returned from a two week vacation in Kansas City and although it was great to see family it was just too long. We missed our house and we missed our friends here in Cedar Park. I did get to see some old friends in KC and that was amazing. We saw a lot of Evan's family and we got to spend time with my brother Matt and his family which was also long overdue. We miss them alot. I wish they all lived closer. But there is alot to be said for home and we're glad to be back. We also came back with one additional kid; my son Jake has come home to live with us for at least this year, his junior year which was totally unexpected, and totally one of the best things that's ever happened to us. More to come on that.

Rained out at The "K"

We were in the middle of the Royals-Tigers game in the top of the 7th inning when the clouds opened up with an unexpected torrential downpour. I predict a rainout.

Kaufmann Stadium

iPhone 3G is in my hand

After blogging last night against the way Apple has handled this whole 3G rollout I still feel that way this morning. Even though after a two hour wait in Leawood, KS I got one of the phones that came in this morning. Here is a brief timeline of the events leading up to my purchase; I arrived at the Apple Store, the first person I might add, at 8:21 a.m. The Apple Store opens at 9 here even though the website says 10 a.m. I patiently waited along with two other people and waited outside the door. A girl approached us at a little before 9 a.m. and said they were expecting a shipment although they didn't know when. I was not budging. There was no way I was going to leave and risk missing one. I did find the information curious though as the website said they would not have them today. Interestingly through some networking at the Apple Store I found out that they never say they have any in stock on the site and they purposely open earlier to avoid getting trampled on by eager customers. What is up with that crap? If you have them, say you have them...in my humble opinion as a consumer. We entered at 9 a.m. and were placed in a holding line next to the iMac display. At about 9:30 a.m. I noticed a Leawood police officer enter the building...I knew we were close.

There was a lady working the line (up to about 6 people now) prequalifying folks and they were not happy. It turns out that if you have a company AT&T line you're screwed. (As my good friend Ozzie had already informed me)  The only way I got one is I upgraded my wife's phone. We were inside the first two years of our agreement so I paid $499; totally worth it though. I felt sorry for the other people that could not even PURCHASE a phone. If they didn't meet the crazy criteria they were being sent to an AT&T store. 

I'm glad a got a phone so don't get me wrong. I'm not ungrateful. But the reality is this whole situation was jacked up from the get go. An Apple employee admitted they knew they botched this whole rollout. He said "they did not anticipate the interest". Are you kidding me? The biggest phone rollout in history and they didn't gauge the interest as being off the charts?

Steve Jobs, wherever you are there is probably a lesson here. I really thought Apple was better than how they handled this. This reeks of Microsoft Windows Vista and pretty much every rollout that has been done. I'm still an Apple lover but this has left a bad taste in my mouth for sure.

iPhone 3G - Out of Stock?? Could it be True?

Okay, first a disclaimer; I am one of Apple's biggest fans bar none. I have always thought Apple's product line to be superior to Microsoft's PC lineup. Once I was able to, I converted everything to a Mac -- and have never regretted it for a minute. The hardware is top notch, the software is intuitive, and it is just flat out rockin' when it comes to music production and movie editing.

I bought the first iPhone last year and was one of the knuckleheads that had to have it and I paid $599, yes I was that guy. I anxiously awaited and downloaded any update that came along. When the new iPhone (twice as fast, half the price) was announced I was ready to be that guy again and get it, no questions asked. I still am that guy but because of a short supply chain I have a snowball's chance of getting one anytime soon, and that is really, monumentally disappointing. How could this have happened to my beloved Apple? How could they have not known? By not allowing people to order the phone online they have set themselves up for a huge fall. I understand the reasoning (sort of). This was designed to keep folks from buying the phone and hacking into it and running it on T-Mobile, Verizon, etc. Unfortunately in their finite wisdom by making folks purchase and activate it at AT&T or the Apple Store they crashed their servers the first weekend it was on sale and with the supply shorted it was a complete disaster, at least in the eye of the majority of people who do not have the new iPhone. In fact at one point in the last few days less than 2% of the 188 Apple Retail outlets had any iPhones for sale.

That is simply unacceptable,  beyond words. Hopefully Apple will get this turned around and step in to make this right.