iPhones that didn't activate

Sunday, July 01, 2007 by Dave Winer.

I was getting ready to do a podcast on why the iPhone is important and totally worth obsessing over, but maybe before we go there, we should take a look at this number. 

According to an unscientific Engadget poll, 38 percent of iPhone users have not gotten their phones activated. An unactivated iPhone is useless, you can't enter numbers into the contact list while you're waiting, you can't surf the web over wifi, or watch YouTube videos or find out what the temperature is in Cupertino. 

Steve Rubel is one of the 38 percent. And since he cancelled his Verizon account, he no longer has a cell phone. Not a good situation for a guy like Steve. He's in PR. (Steve writes: "I actually have a backup phone from Edelman but it's my personal phone that wa cancelled.") 

Thomas Hawk's iPhone isn't working yet either. He describes waiting on hold endlessly with AT&T. Like Steve, his first memory of iPhone is going to be a wasted weekend trying to get started.  

For what it's worth my activation went smoothly, took just a few minutes. 

Rex Hammock: "Perhaps setting up a cell-phone account is a process, not a purchase."