What is Apple going to do with the lines of people that want to buy an iPhone?

13/06/08 14:50
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What is Apple going to do on July 11th when people line up outside Apple stores to purchase the new iPhone? This time it’s different as the phone has to be activated at the store so each purchase could take 5, 10 or 15 minutes to complete. This means in addition to long lines hot temperatures for people waiting in line in summer. It could get ugly folks.

I plan on purchasing a new iPhone but I won’t wait on line to do it. I was surprised when I read reports that all iPhones are going to have to be activated at the store. I’m not sure why Apple agreed to this but things could get ugly real quickly at stores in big cities like New York and Boston.

I am hoping that Apple will allow people to purchase an iPhone online and that they can then pick up their activated iPhone at the store using ID and a receipt. The availability date is still over a month away and there is time to think about the experience of purchasing an iPhone and how to make it pleasant but the stores could get overwhelmed very quickly when people who currently have AT&T accounts and iPhones try and upgrade.

Activation of my first iPhone was quick and easy and took less than 10 minutes but having people do it at stores where data has to be entered from scratch could take some time. I am sure Apple and AT&T has thought of this challenge and will make the purchase as painless as possible but if they are just thinking that people are going to have to wait Apple could take a hit on their gold service standards.
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