Britons snap up 'tens of thousands' of iPhones

I walked into my local 02 store to see an iPhone in the flesh

- I wouldn't be surprised that they didn't sell too many as the staff dont know anything about the iPhone at all.

I wanted to know what the internet experience was like on the edge network but all I got was a blank stare and a vague mumble about the cloud network, so I had to show him how to deactivate the wifi

- then I said it would be good to get some native voip software on there... The guy proceeded to tell me that all I needed to do was download skype on my iphone and I could talk for free.... I had to tell him that you can't do that and he was supposed to be demoing the phone to me, not me to him!!

Useless....

Rick

As a UK phone user, I can say that a data package appeals greatly to me. Apple is leading the way with the data package concept, it's just a shame that they're offering it on a fast-as-dial-up 2.5G network which barely covers 30% of the country, and asking us to pay twice for the privilege.

I suspect the big touch screen and the WiFi are as much to blame as 3G would be for any battery life issues.

Anyone in the UK buying iPhone v1.0 at today's prices forfeits their right to be pissed off when Apple introduces v2.0 at a more realistic price in Q1 2008.

'Activated' not 'sold'.

I don't know anyone (me included) who managed to activate on Friday night due to problems with the Carphonewarehouse chip-and-pin system, problems with the O2 credit system and problems connecting to the iTunes store.

I finally got activated at 11pm Saturday.

I think the iPhone is a reasonable price. Its the same price as the iPod touch but for 35 quid a month I get a phone, email, widgets, sms, unlimited internet access, google maps, free talk time and 200 free sms messages.

I think Apple have priced it very well.....i dont have one though because my phone is handled through my work.

Nik, I can see exactly where you are coming from... battery life COULD be an issue, but to be fairly honest my SE W900i had a couple of days of battery life, and i know someone who has a W880i (the REALLY slim 3G one) does too. I think a bit of creative software controlling the 3G radio could have made it useable? But I'm no expert so hey!
O well, hopefully sooner than later!

Fraser I disagree. 3G handsets are still just to power hungry to really work. I'm more than happy to trade 3G EDGE if it means I get more life from my iPhone.

N

I'm pretty much Apple's target demographic, but the UK iPhone launch struck me as an unmitigated failure. I have 3 Macs and 2 iPods, but I would never consider the iPhone as a serious phone.

"Tens of thousands" sounds like marketing speak for "10,000" iPhones sold.. and the only people queuing for one appeared to be journalists.

I probably am in Apples target demographic. I have a contract all ready, I'm a mac user, but mostly, i don't just phone on my phone.
The UK iPhone NEEDED to be 3G. This country (nearly) skipped EDGE altogether. The coverage is truly horrific; Reading, which is a fairly large place, has no O2 EDGE at all, even in the O2/CPW shop. The BBC Homepage took nearly 2 full minutes to load, in the shop! It's put me off one until it goes 3G. The iPhone IS all about having the internet in your pocket. That is one of the key things that sets it apart.
End rant.

A few other crowd pics over here:
http://www.macbidouille.com/news/2007-11-09/#15287

Actually I think I agree with the observations here: http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/technology/2007/11/11/no_real_queues_for_iphones_at_least_in_london_corrected.html
And here: http://www.dialaphone.co.uk/blog/?p=750

Queues at 3-4 Apple stores (in the whole of the UK) doesn't mean that the same was repeated across all O2 and Carphone Warehouse stores. In fact, I think the iPhone's launch in the US received more press coverage here than the UK launch.