Filed under: Other Events, iPhone
Britons snap up 'tens of thousands' of iPhones
Whilst in the queue on Friday, people were being asked what they thought about the iPhone 'lacking a camera', with at least one news crew leaving the Regent Street store with a significant portion of laughter at that question. Of course, with Apple having kept the U.K. iPhone under such tight lock, few had actually seen one 'in the flesh', but not seeing it in the flesh seemingly didn't stop people deriding the device out of hand.
Gripes aside, it seems to have been a moderately successful launch, if not setting the world on fire. Thankfully, if you weren't to be found queuing for an iPhone on Friday, there's a plethora of photographs from the launch here in the U.K. Thanks to all those who left comments on our (repeatedly, and abruptly, interrupted) Live-Blog. If you're wondering where the queues were, you might want to check photos from London #1 #2, Manchester, Birmingham and across the country.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Neil Christie said 10:42AM on 11-13-2007
"Tens of thousands" in a country of sixty million?
I think Apple is finally finding out that releasing a phone with a £35 per month service plan (which lacks completely in the minutes and texts department by a good few hundred compared to plans of the same value on other networks and indeed also on O2) and having the cheek to ask users to pay for the handset isn't going to go down well in the UK.
Remember, most people who buy phones in this country don't give a damn about any data services or any other stuff - it's a PHONE primarily, followed closely by an SMS device and then a camera. Of course, the camera in iPhone is absolutely dreadful and it makes you wonder why they bothered. They could rectify this by allowing it to record video and by adding a few settings to get better shots, but as it stands it's completely outstripped by the Nokia N95 and LG Viewty.
Better luck next time, Apple.
(PS: I have my US unlocked iPhone which I paid £219 for. I love it but I wouldn't dream of stumping up the kind of cash Apple wants for the "official" UK one)
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Nik Fletcher said 10:55AM on 11-13-2007
"most people who buy phones in this country don't give a damn about any data services or any other stuff"
Quite possibly, Neil. But then, those folks are not Apple's target demographic
Thanks,
Nik
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kurt.tappe said 11:11AM on 11-13-2007
It is odd that UK users would not care about data services. To me, the iPhone's greatest feature is Safari. I will use that a lot more than the phone portion; having a real web browser with me wherever I am is truly great. Why would UK users not agree??
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C.Keiser said 11:29AM on 11-13-2007
What I wanna' know is:
If I buy a phone in the US, saving beaucoup bucks, can I put an O2 or Orange, or T-Mobile card into it and activate it in the host country?
The Orange guy I spoke with here in Paris was not to savvy, or just didn't want to be helpful.
Thanks for any insight,
Christopher
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Stuart said 11:39AM on 11-13-2007
Surely the reason that "most" (very scientific that) don't care about data/web on their mobiles at the moment is because it's just awful on most phones, which is where the iPhone will hopefully change people's perceptions. I played with Safari on the iPhone for a few minutes and now look at my current phone's web feature as just some sort of cruel joke.
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Joey said 11:40AM on 11-13-2007
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.
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e said 11:45AM on 11-13-2007
A few other crowd pics over here:
http://www.macbidouille.com/news/2007-11-09/#15287
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Erik said 11:59AM on 11-13-2007
"Remember, most people who buy phones in this country don't give a damn about any data services or any other stuff"
That is mostly because of the extremely expensive data charges that they apply.
If I could use a mobile device with unlimited data access for a reasonable price, I would be far more likely to do so.
Currently, I'd have to add at least £25 to my plan. Even then, it isn't a truly unlimited plan.
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Fraser Drew said 12:14PM on 11-13-2007
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.
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Dom said 12:40PM on 11-13-2007
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.
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Nik Fletcher said 12:41PM on 11-13-2007
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
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Fraser Drew said 12:47PM on 11-13-2007
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!
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Bryan said 2:33PM on 11-13-2007
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.
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Adam said 5:46PM on 11-13-2007
'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.
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Gary said 5:11AM on 11-14-2007
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.
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rick pirroni said 6:44AM on 11-14-2007
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
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