RSSWal-Mart's iPhone launch meets widespread outage
By Tim Conneally | Published December 29, 2008, 3:53 PM
Yesterday, discount retailer Wal-Mart began selling the iPhone 3G, and as if to welcome customers to their new devices, AT&T suffered a substantial network outage.
AT&T representative Meghan Roskopf told the Chicago Tribune that at 9:30 am Eastern Time, only a matter of hours after Wal-Mart locations opened for business, the Bloomfield, Michigan AT&T facility experienced a power outage, causing "intermittent disruption of mobile services for customers in some Midwest states."
AT&T went on to say, "Backup power has subsequently been restored, and AT&T technicians currently are working to fully restore the impacted equipment. We will provide more information as soon as it becomes available."
Users from Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Iowa, and Wisconsin complained of lost service on AT&T's support forum the most, though some from as far as Florida and Washington reported issues. One such user reported, "I did get a Customer Service tech at around 12:30 pm -- who told me there was a system outage in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, parts of Pennsylvania, parts of Delaware...and I lost track after that. Said that they would have an 'update' within 24 hours -- not that the service would be repaired -- but that there would be a status update in 24 hours!"
The service troubles have been attributed to harsh weather in the region over the last week. Nearly 400,000 in Michigan remain without electricity due to high winds and flooding.
Some users believe continuing problems with AT&T's 3G network could signify a greater problem at hand.
One irate forum poster said, "I have been dealing with cellular carriers on the real estate side for the last 15 years, and if 45 mph winds and some moderate flooding cause outages from Boston to LA, as has been reported in these forums, there's a bigger issue here than we're experiencing today. What happens when we have severe summer flooding, winter ice storms, blizzards, and the kind of severe weather that we're all used to this time of year?"
AT&T's latest troubles come right in time with Wal-Mart's iPhone "sale," during which the 8 GB model was discounted by an astounding $2; and AT&T itself began selling refurbished iPhones starting at $99.
I don't understand people paying 100$ (one phone) 150$ (two phones) a month for the service plans , I understand the companies charging that much. They will after all charge what ever we let them but ~People~ paying that much baffles me is it really worth it? I understand the tech 100% but while researching buying I was floored by the monthly fees , It's not that I can't afford it but whether it's worth that damn much , serious question , I would like to hear other tech savvy peoples opinions on whether it's REALLY worth it?
Thanks , 6.
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|See what happens when you mix "Mullets" with "Tech".
It's their Sex-Box and it's name is "IPHONE"
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|Lol , trying to act like you don't surf porn.
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|Never will understand the draw of touch-screen only phones.
Never.
To tactile response. No key sizes. No way to tell by "touch" what letter you are hitting or where your fingers are.
The Storm or whatever it is tries to give some form of response (sound/vibration) but it still fails miserably to give any indication of what key you just hit without having to actually look at the screen.
Maybe I'm just old-school, maybe I should never have taken those typing classes. Right now, the only phone I can find that has anywhere near the functionality I need and a desirable keyboard is the HTC Touch Pro. 5 line QWERTY keyboard, top line reserved for numbers (no need to hit a lame function key), Touch screen, ample applications, and wi-fi. It doesn't get much better than that, though I would _love_ to see an android version of it.
That said, I despise the iPhone and all of it's clones. (just to point out that this hatred is not reserved for iPhones only...any "smartphone" without an actual keyboard is crap IMO.)
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|You prefer the original Star Trek series too I bet. :P
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|Will this iSuck rage never end ? I'm getting sick of this shiny glittery pricy dump of crap.
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|Big F#$%ing deal.
You save $2 off the Apple and AT&T price - $197 versus $199.
The fact is that increasing their exposure and distribution network is a smart move.
Other than that, this is just an excuse to scream Apple and to shake the fanboys from the trees just so we can listen to so many who have no interest in them say they won't buy them while those who like them blather about how incredible is their Steely Dan - leaving the rest for whom a converged phone is just a simple productivity tool - and not an identity - to wonder what all the fuss is about.
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|Everyone is yelling at AT&T and Wallmart. Why are we not yelling at APPLE for picking AT&T.
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|It is a shame the best cell phone out, the iPhone, is tied to the crappiest cellular provider in the USA. I look back at my old Blackberry and can not imagine how i lived with such a crappy phone.
Two guys i work with got that Blackberry iPhone clone and both had to return them due to the click screen going bonkers, not to mention having the things crash several times a day. Apparently the Blackberry iPhone clone gets returned more than any other Smart phone ever...even more than the Microsoft Mobile phones.
Anywho....both have since gotten an iPhone and are amazed at how polished the things are.
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|I won't be lining up to get one. I'm trying to talk a friend of mine out of getting one. I think once a decent phone with Google OS comes out or the new Palm with Nova, Or maybe Windows mobile 7 or Zune phone platform, the Iphone will loose some footing...I hope.
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|And the sheep line up for the "ultimate inflated sense of self esteem even though you are a total loser" product.
We switched to iPhones about a month ago, I refuse to be seen with it or even use it. It is currently sitting in a our kitchen's iPort dock to feed music to the whole house system.
We had 3G Blackjacks with Exchange Server tied into Outlook, now this crap. Great move. At least I didnt have to pay for it.
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|And ATT makes it's current customers pay full price $399. + for the 8 gb with current service.
Time to switch...
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|Thank you for using AT&T!
Thats typical, AT&T mobile is awful. When they were Pacific Bell they were at their best, they've been sliding every since.
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