The long-awaited day has arrived.
Not only is Apple releasing the brand new iPhone 3G phone, which promises to do everything but do your dishes, but they are also releasing the new iPhone 2.0 firmware which promises to bring new functionality to current iPhone hardware.
I woke up early today and plugged in my iPhone to find that the 2.0 update had rolled out to my area. I told iTunes to download v2.0, backup my current phone (it does a complete wipe) and bring me up to date.
The download went smoothly and the install appeared to have worked.
That's when things went south...
While iTunes recognized my device, there were no menu items available for the iPhone. Just a white screen with the words "iPhone" in the center.
In the meantime, the progress bar at the top of iTunes was stuck on "Accessing iTunes Store."
I waited. And waited. And waited some more.
After 30 minutes or so of no activity, I called Apple Tech Support.
I was on hold for approximately 30 minutes as I waited to speak with a Tier 1 support agent.
He had me try a few things, including rebooting my computer and doing forced restores on my iPhone.
Nothing.
He then informed me that the traffic to Apple was so high that this portion of the iTunes store was inaccessible.
He assured me that once traffic died down, everything would be fine, but that I would not be able to restore my iPhone until that happened.
So essentially I have a brick attached to my computer at the moment.
I wanted to get Tier 2 support, but they were incredibly busy and there was no way to get through to them.
The support rep then informed me that he had just received a message to his screen.
The iTunes store had completely CRASHED!
Wow, even APPLE screwed up in underestimating the bandwidth and server power that would be required to pull this update off without a burp.
They didn't just burp.
They blew chunks all over the place and I'm without an iPhone today... who knows how long.
I did some searching through my Windows directory structure and found my backup files in:
C:\Documents and Settings\Joel\Application Data\Apple Computer\iTunes\iPhone Software Updates
However, even double-clicking a restore file does no good as a connection to the iTunes Store is required in order to restore.
I'm sure this will blow over soon, but I'm frustrated that Apple dropped the ball on this one. Now I've got to go without my iPhone all day.
I guess I can take solace in knowing that there are likely millions of others in the same boat.
I wonder how much this will cost the U.S. economy?
It's Del.icio.us!
Furl It!
July 11, 2008 09:24 AM
Hi Joe:
I am sorry you had this difficulty. I remember when iPhone came out. I ordered on line and in one week I received the phone. I activated it in about 20 minutes which included changing providers from Nextel (when I spoke with Nextel to confirm they never attempted to keep me as a customer even thought I had paid them for 10 years). So all went fine.
I will purchase the new 3G but noticed you have to go to a store to buy it. There is one nearby but it seems nuts to me to wait in line winding outside down the street to buy a phone. So when all of that dies down I will go in and buy one.
Back to your download issue - you now have experienced the risk of being first in on a massive new release. I am glad you posted this because I will wait even longer before attempting any upgrade. Probably sometime next week things will settle down.
Steve
http://www.youtubemastery.net
http://www.stevereports.com
July 11, 2008 09:51 AM
Ouch, that's gotta hurt someone so intertwined with others to make his business run. Good luck with this.
July 11, 2008 10:50 AM
This exact thing happened to me as well. Apple definitely dropped the ball on this one.
July 11, 2008 10:54 AM
Same thing happened to me at about 10.45 central time. Upgraded to iTunes 7.7 this morning in order to download 2.0 software. I can access the traditional itunes store, but get error message that I can't connect to iTunes store when I click on iPhone (network connection was reset).
Excitement killed.
Please update when yours comes back.
July 11, 2008 10:55 AM
Me, too. Hopefully not for the ENTIRE WEEKEND! huh!
July 11, 2008 11:06 AM
It's aweful when such things happen isn't it? I have an iPod touch that I won't go anywhere without, same as the iphone, just without the, um, phone. Anyway, upgrade to 2.0 software today has killed the device and now I am devistated - completely lost without it. How did I manage to cope before I bought it?
July 11, 2008 11:24 AM
This has apparently happened to a whole lot of people. And Apple weren't the only ones who underestimated the demand for the iPhone 3G. I didn't have time to stand in line at the store before work today (there were over 200 people in line at 06:30 AM), so I hoped there'd be some phones left when I got off work. No such luck. By the time I got off work every phone in Norway was sold. All the stores in all of Norway sold out within a few hours.
However, the real kicker is this: The exclusive iPhone carrier here in Norway is Netcom, and their online store sold out in ONE MINUTE!
I just can't believe it's possible to be so far off the mark when estimating demand for such a product.
July 11, 2008 11:36 AM
Luckily I haven't puchased an iphone yet. But it always seems like there's a hiccup when a new version of anything first comes out. Good luck to all of you.
July 11, 2008 12:21 PM
First, you must remember that when there's hype, like today, do never perform any update. It's sure that it was going to be broken. Nobody, maybe except Google, can handle this load, and this is because this is the job of Google, not the one of Apple.
In my case, I will wait at least a week to see what happens. Then, I'll decide if I upgrade or not, buy a 3G or not. The last thing I would like to see happening is not having my phone during a day.
BTW, the download of the update was released on the net yesterday, so I have it on hard disk. I don't know if to update it on one of my servers to help people like you. Will it handle the load?
July 11, 2008 01:07 PM
Fabien, people are successfully downloading the new software. It's Apple's authentication servers that can't handle the load.
Providing the release on your server will put people in same predicament.
July 11, 2008 01:31 PM
i have the same problem! only i kept unplugging and replugging my phone and then finally my phone got activate for whatever reason. it was just like yours. now im restoring it back to the way it was.. hopefully i wont get an error.. but try doing what i do.. it eventually activated.. AND went to the 2.0 server because i already downloaded it (then it did what yours did). but i mean everything looks to be right. i have the app store and everything. mine was origanaly hacked.. though, i lost all of the hack, im just glad that i dont have to go all day without this having a "connect to itunes" sign and not being able to. i hope you dont have to go very long without your phone! help is on your side! :)
-Bryson
July 11, 2008 02:44 PM
Has Steve Jobs released another iPhone onto the market. Well good for the company but if you're all having problems - I'd ask for a refund and lay in wait until a revised version hits the shelves?
I have come across a unusual though highly effective tool I'm sure you would all like to add to your toys.
A BlueTooth Wireless Stereo/Speakerphone which was released by Celleden and Audex. You can hook it up to you PDA, iPOD, BlueTooth Cellphone, CD-DVD, & laptop. A very useful piece of technology that all of you will find to your advantage in the days ahead. Simply do a search for this product or contact Apple to inquire. Thumbs up with 5 *****
July 11, 2008 03:07 PM
Dude... never update anything the day its released, especially from Apple. Before the show we had to reload the OS on one of our imacs due to a bad update :)
July 11, 2008 05:20 PM
Joel,
Thanks for posting this! I am glad I read it because I was going to do the update in a few minutes. I am sorry you (& lots of others) are stuck in iPhone limbo. Hopefully their servers will be working soon. I think I will wait until sometime next week to do the 2.0 update.
Juliet
July 11, 2008 05:44 PM
Hello! does anyone know if its save to update to 2.0 now?? I got a 2g phone and dont want it to crash! its Friday 4.44pm pacific time in my end...thankyou
July 11, 2008 09:50 PM
Hi Joel, The iPhone was just released in Australia yesterday Friday 11th July and the rush was just as mad. I was thinking of getting one but may now wait until the 3G one becomes available here, which shouldn't be too long and hopefully Apple will have sorted out the problems all of you guys seem to be experiencing.
Have a lovely day
Love and Light
Colleen The Crystal Dragon
July 11, 2008 10:17 PM
No iphones to be had here in Central PA this evening.. my son ordered one but they could not guarantee 'when' he will get it.. at least he avoided the crash with this being his first iphone.. good he still has his Verizon phone operational!!
Good luck with yours Joel!
p.s. in the meantime.. let's order movies :)
July 12, 2008 07:47 PM
nice picture.
July 12, 2008 11:27 PM
if you download the free ipod touch software 2.0 which is technicly illegal it will work fine as long as the file is not corrupted that is one way to update for the touch users
July 13, 2008 12:50 AM
I know what you mean man, I went thru the same problem
July 13, 2008 04:01 AM
I already bought the old version. I willing to fet this one...but only if I can bit with lower price.
July 13, 2008 04:18 AM
This product will the hot products in near future like old version.
July 14, 2008 06:13 AM
I can understand some of the frustration, I experienced some of it myself with my iPod Touch, but the whole thing didn't bother me that much.
As a society, it seems like technology has become like crack, and if we ever have to go a whole day without it, we go into withdrawal.
Recent stories in the news about Google Docs going down for an hour - an *hour* - and people where in an uproar questioning whether Google Docs was ready for primetime. True, I leisurely work by myself in my home office full-time, so I may not appreciate this issue fully, but I've had *many* OS issues in the past that took more than an hour to resolve - it's part of life - no big deal!
Going without my phone for a day would be a blessing.:)
I guess what I'm saying is, nearly all glitches get resolved fairly quickly, and they can be a great opportunity to get other things done. I hope I never feel that technology is so important that I get stressed out when I become 'unwired', even if it's for a whole day (and yes, my business is 100% online).
Even my wife freaks out when we head out and discovers she left her phone at home accidentally. I just don't understand it....
Have a great day!
Derek
July 15, 2008 07:57 PM
The more popular a product gets, the more likely an outage gets press time. It just goes to show you how difficult it is serving the masses. I imagine it is a good problem to have, as long as you address it and try to improve.
July 17, 2008 11:12 AM
This will certainly deal a great blow on Apple's stocks and the corresponding Tech stocks group! The market is in enough bad shape already with the sub prime issues and certainly wouldn't need more bad press. In a bearish market a bit of bad news seems like a whole load of bad news and would certainly drag the whole industry down. I just hope that Apple rectifies the problem fast. I try to do my best to educate the public on personal wealth management and investment with my site at http://www.invest-money-stocks
July 18, 2008 03:33 AM
Well, you had some problems, but now that you have iPhone 2.0 software, you can get Apps from the iTunes App Store. I'm developing one right now, and I'm going to release it for free. Would you like to try it out, Joel?
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August 14, 2008 01:23 AM
MY I TOUCH HAS BEEN CONNECTED TO MY COMPUTER FOR OVERNIGHT NOW , WATING FOR THE 2.0 UPGRADE, I SEE EVERYONE ELSE IS HAVING PROBLEMS TOO
DO I JUST KEEP MY CPU ON AND WIT IT OUT, ITS BEEN ON FOR LIKE 10 HOURS NOW AND STILL DOWNLOADING