iPhone Madness Part 2

First of all, I want to apologize for taking so long to update my iPhone story. I will get into it later. I'm not sure why I am apologizing, I'm probably the only one reading this blog anyway!

Where did we leave off last time. Something to the effect of AT&T is completely retarded and I still don't have an iPhone. It has been about 2 1/2 months since whole thing started. Today I sit with iPhone in hand, all while I create this blog on my new MacBook. Here's how it all went down.

Right after I got off the phone with the gentleman from AT&T, I got an email from them saying my SIM card had been shipped. And by right after, I mean literally 5 minutes after I got off the phone. I was still cussing and fuming. The email showed that FedEx would be delivering my SIM card to me in just a short day and a half! WTF!?!?! How do you go from no way Jose, to all your dreams come true. I wasn't about to question their stupidity, I was just glad it was coming.

The day had arrived for my SIM card. I stopped by the FedEx office to pick it up. No problems there, I break out the card, put it in my iPhone and... Please connect iPhone to iTunes for activation. Pixie!!! So much for working right out of the box. I was off to my part-time job anyway, so we would have to pick things up there.

I arrived early enough to set up my laptop and connect to the Internet. I plugged in the phone and proceeded through the activation process. I get to the very end for the activation and, "there was an error processing your activation, please call AT&T to finalize activation." Nooooo!!!!! Not another CSW! I can't take it.

I had a few minutes to spare, and it would prove to be all I needed. I called the toll free number and got a very nice gentleman to explain what had happened. AT&T's policy to to accept the terms of service over the phone or in person. That step had been missed in all of my calls prior. With a few quick keystrokes on his end, I was ready to complete activation. 2 minutes later, I had achieved iPhone immortality! I was in! I was really, really in. Text messages, calls, data, web browsing, you name it. I was in!

I never had another issue with AT&T from that point on. Granted, I haven't had to call them either. I made my trip to Cedar Rapids for my brother's wedding a couple of weeks later. That's where I met the beauty knows as iPhone 3G. She was a much younger, slimmer model. And oh, she let me down the path of temptation. After visiting with her in St. Cloud, I had another 6 hours of driving to plot and scheme as how to make her mine.

As most geeks do with gadgets, we try to hedge our costs by selling old gadgets to help defray the costs of new ones. This is especially helpful to married with children geeks, such as myself. I decided to sell my 2G iPhone on eBay the second I arrived at the hotel and got Internet established. If I could make a rush sale, I could pick up the sexy beauty on my return trip.

I arrived at the hotel on a mission. After meeting with my parents and getting the gameplan for rehearsal and picking up the tuxedos, I had just 10 short minutes to get everything posted before heading out. I was able to put my plea into eBay hoping someone would relieve me of my current iPhone. The auction had begun, now the waiting game.

After picking up the tuxedos and arriving to rehearsal 10 minutes late, and I was actually late. Who ever had a wedding rehearsal start on time? The rehearsal was done, and it was off to dinner. Only a short hour and a half after the auction had posted. I checked my email from the restaurant. The old iPhone had sold! Eureka!! The buyer had prepaid with Paypal and the money was sitting in my account waiting to be used. This changes everything. Why wait until the trip home, when I could be using this new beauty a whole day ahead of schedule. Time to find an AT&T store and quick.

Upon completion of the rehearsal dinner and returning to my hotel room, I found a store just a few miles from the hotel. They opened at 10am in the morning. With pictures starting at noon, it didn't leave a lot of time to make my purchase. I set out early enough to arrive on time and make a few errand runs before hand. The time had come, the doors had opened, "I'll take one iPhone 3G good sir!" It took a little while longer than I had planned for, but the experience was a good one. 2 for 2 with in store approaches. I had the 3G in hand and made my way back to the hotel.

It was a mad dash to get showered and tuxed and back to the wedding on time, but I pulled it off. The wedding was great. The phone was a hit. I don't regret making the switch at all. I've actually recruited a number of new iPhone converts. I recently made a road trip back to St. Cloud to help a friend buy one as well. The same gentleman that helped me the first time I stopped in was there to greet us. He even remembered me. He also introduced me to the AT&T referral program. $25 for each referral. I'm up to $100 already!! So make that 3 for 3 on in store experiences.

All in all it was a lot of work for me. I didn't take a very conventional approach to getting my phone. For the friends that knew what I went through, and then just got theirs in the store with absolutely no trouble at all, it makes me feel a little bad. But at the end of the day, we all got what we wanted. It just proves that I will do just about anything to be the first one to get the new technology or new gadget. So for that, I apologize to my wife and family. I'm sure they don't hold it against me. I'm sure I'm not the only one. This story has come to an end. I would like to think it had a happy ending. So on to the next chapter in my iPhone tale. I hope you'll stay tuned.

Bill