Social: Virtues (Or Lack Of) Waiting In Line For An Apple Product Launch

Last night, I took a small nap and woke up just before midnight Friday to order my iPhones.  As I've said before, it was seamless for me.  Maybe it's because I'm in the same time zone as Apple.  But as I was waiting to order and even after for about an hour or so, I followed many of the online forums and Twitter to gauge what's going on outside - in the hundreds if not thousands of retail locations where people were lined up, waiting for that moment at 8 am or whenever the Apple or reseller stores would open, and get inside and buy the iPhone of their choice.

Once, I lined up at the Manhattan Beach, California Apple store to pick up my original iPad pre-order.  A couple of friends went with me.  That was fun but I got there at 5 am which was nothing like what others have done to get ahead of the line.  Lining up even day before.  Or days.

Another time, I went at 3 am to line up at the Pasadena store for the iPhone 4S.  But that was not on launch day but the day after.  It was a bit scary because it was such a crazy thing to do.  I mean, sure, it was an iPhone but it was just a mobile computing device and I had the iPhone 4 in my pocket!

But once I got there, there were already folks lined up about fifty deep.  Half the folks there wanted a 4S because they were upgrading from a 3G or 3GS.  Even the original iPhone.  The other half wanted to get their hands on them and sell them to the Chinese overseas who would pay top dollars for it.  Oh well.  It's a free country with a free economy.

I tended to ignore those folks.  However, I did have a good time talking to others who shared my enthusiasm for the iPhone and other Apple products.  Some were getting it for themselves and others for their love ones.  Some didn't quite understand the cult of Apple but understood that their love ones do.

It's an experience.  It's fun.  I think if you're an Apple fan, go do this once at least to see what it's like.

New Network Protocol in iOS 7 Means More Efficient And Seamless Connectivity - That's What Mobile is All About (Apple Too)

Source:  iMore.

iOS 7 has a new feature that isn't as sexy as the new camera or Touch ID but it is still pretty neat.  It's called Multipath TCP.

Multipath TCP allows users to maintain connectivity between WiFi and cell signals so when the mobile warrior move from one network to another, say you're at a coffee shop and you walked out into the parking and loses the cafe's WiFi signal, iOS 7 knows to pick right off using your LTE or whatever cell signal you've got.

It works by staying connected to both networks at the same time.  My question is then about what the battery life?  It's great that there is no interruption but you have to think that there is always power being drawn when the cell antenna has to work in this fashion.

I lack the technical background to answer this, I do believe this is a fair question to ask.

Then comes my second question.  Who gets this new ability?  Any with iOS 7 installed?  Apparently, that is the case.  No new hardware is needed.

iPhone 5s Still Very Much Available For Shipping In The Next 10 Day Time Frame

I was able to order a silver 64 GB iPhone 5s for my brother who has courageously served this country.  He deserved it.  And after that, I was happy.  I also got one for myself.  If there's anything I don't cut back in, it's my mobile devices.

And even now, you can still get iPhone 5s (iPhone 5c models as well if that's your color) with a 7-10 day ship time if you go with a carrier.  The unlocked T-mobile models, ones that I bought, will take a bit longer.

All in all, it was a wonderful ordering experience not seen in previous years.  Getting the iPhone 4s was an ordeal and I don't even want to talk about the iPhone 5.

I still have a mind to see if I can get to an Apple store to get one and cancel my online order if there are still stock left this even or sometimes this weekend.

iPhone 5s Still Very Much Available For Shipping In The Next 10 Day Time Frame

I was able to order a silver 64 GB iPhone 5s for my brother who has courageously served this country.  He deserved it.  And after that, I was happy.  I also got one for myself.  If there's anything I don't cut back in, it's my mobile devices.

And even now, you can still get iPhone 5s (iPhone 5c models as well if that's your color) with a 7-10 day ship time if you go with a carrier.  The unlocked T-mobile models, ones that I bought, will take a bit longer.

All in all, it was a wonderful ordering experience not seen in previous years.  Getting the iPhone 4s was an ordeal and I don't even want to talk about the iPhone 5.

I still have a mind to see if I can get to an Apple store to get one and cancel my online order if there are still stock left this even or sometimes this weekend.

iPhone 5s Preorder: Apple Store! It's Down!!!

Nothing more to say...




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

How Fast Is iOS 7 Adoption? Fast. Very Fast.

Thanks to Dave the Mobile Sage, he sent this website (mixpanel) that tracked iOS adoption.  Specifically, iOS 7 is what we're interested in.  In less than 24 hours, it's already at 1/3 of the iOS market.

That's fast.  Can you imagine this kind of adoption for any other platform.  Certainly not Android and, even with closed ones like Blackberry, Web OS, or Windows Phone, you can't get this kind of adoption rate.

It's good for the platform.  Great for the end users.  And all around high-fives for developers.  

Mobile: Binge Watching Of Shows Through Online Video Services On the Rise - Duh? It's The Only Way To Watch Shows

This CNET post about binge watching of TV shows seems to suggest that its a Netflix only phenomenon but it's not.  It's happening on other online video services as well.

(Nielsen Chart)

This should not come as a surprise.  Folks are watching shows on Netflix, Hulu, and others through their phones and tablets.  Maybe on their TV too.  And the ability to watch these shows anywhere, at home, on the go, or even at work makes this new video watching behavior easier.

But while mobile is important, what's more important is that online services makes the whole season of a show available at the same time.  With all two seasons of Scandal on Netflix, I would not have been able to binge watch it since Sunday night.