I just got back from the Apple Store and am now the proud owner of an
iPhone 3G S 32 GB in basic black. I can't wait to get at it, but before dive in, I want to write a bit about the experience.
Driving to the Apple store at the
Walt Whitman Mall in Huntington, NY, I drove past an
AT&T store which had no line and very few cars in the parking lot. When I got to the Apple store, it was a different story. There was a bit of a line or actually two lines, but nothing big. When I got to one of the Apple reps at the start of the line, I was asked if I pre-ordered. I had, and my name was on the list. I was told to stand on a line of only five people, the other line of people who had no pre-ordered numbered fourteen.
It was about 1:50 pm when I got there and I was curious to see how the Apple experience would differ from what I was accustomed to. The last few times I bought a cellphone, it was a slow, laborious process where the store rep had to take a ton of information from me, get a credit check, wait, find a phone, wait, get more information from me, wait, take the phone to the back to infuse it with life by chanting arcane spells and pushing arcane buttons, wait, hear a canned sales pitch on how the phone would be absolutely no good without a dozen or so accessories that they would be very happy to sell me, refuse, wait, sign a sheave of documents, wait, get the okay, a shopping bag and a receipt and finally leave the story after well over an hour. Let's see how Apple does it.
While waiting in the line with a bottle of Poland Spring Water given to me by an orange-shirted rep, I struck up a conversation with Angelo Vergara who was trading in his three month-old 16 GB model for the same capacity in a 3G S. He told me a story that made me do a double-take. Angelo could have upgraded a year ago according to his contract, but didn't. Instead, he bought his iPhone 3G a few months ago. To upgrade it would cost him $399. That sounded a bit steep. I asked him why he couldn't just cancel his contract, sell the 3G iPhone and pay the early termination fee, and then start a new contract along with paying only $199 for his new phone. He told me that doing so would lose his phone number which he was not wont to do. The net dollars spent would be close, but it seems like he was caught in an odd concatenated AT&T policy. When I got to the front of the line, I asked Jane, my sales rep if this was, in fact, policy and she told me it was. Seems somewhat fishy though.
While Apple has taken many steps to make the iPhone easier and more available to purchase, Apple could take more steps to make the process easier and quicker. MacRumors is reporting that Apple is about implement "iPhone Activation Zones" inside Apple Stores. They would included employees, which will be known as "iPhone Experts," who will be identified by unique clothing and name tags, and will be dedicated to activating and setting up iPhones for customers. Also, customers would be able to pre-authorize their purchase online and have their iPhone almost ready for them to purchase in-store. These optimizations could come as early as tomorrow, so keep your eye out for any changes.
For me, the best part of buying my original iPhone was the activation process. After giving the guy at the AT&T Store my money, he popped my unopened iPhone into a bag and sent me on my way.
CIO.com 
We've gotten a number of happy iPhone users telling us that activations are working once more. I've been encountering a number of iTunes errors myself while trying to update my iPhone to the 2.0 firmware, though I just tried once more and it worked.
Apple has 
The iPhone 3G activation saga is quite confusing. Most people think that Apple and AT&T will require iPhone activations on the spot, thereby cutting into a big part of the unlocked iPhone phenomenon. However, 
Just get a new iPhone today? Or need to re-activate your existing iPhone? Looks like you'll need to wait awhile. 
If you were one of the unfortunate souls caught up in the AT&T activation limbo, some readers are reporting that you might be able to reclaim at least a few bucks for your pain and suffering. As the story goes, AT&T is apparently refunding the $36 activation fee to those who call and present their story of iPhone despair. Of course, it would probably help if you're cordial while explaining instead of reliving the memory entirely, but a refund of such a comparatively small amount of money doesn't sound like too much skin off AT&T's back to make up for doing such a dreadful job handling the iPhone Weekend.
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