The most anticipated week in Apple history since the iPhone? Perhaps the Macintosh? Regardless, this has been the most anticipated, fan fared week in the history of Apple under Tim Cook. For the first time under his tenure, a new product line and service with the Apple Watch and Apple Pay respectively were launched, marking a new figurative chapter for Apple. There was so much to report this week, so lets get started!
Keynote Debacle
There was a crazy amount of hype and anticipation leading up to the keynote. Rumors of a larger iPhone with leaked videos of the device with the chance of a new payment system and a new product category took the keynote to a whole new level. Seconds after Tim Cook took the stage, the video feed crashed with a multi colored screen with a schedule. Once the feed came back, a Chinese translator did a voice over for Phil Schiller which was just good enough that I didn't complain. This was Apple and Tim Cooks moment and it was botched. For a keynote that was as big as any keynote before it, the take away was how bad the feed was. I understand the difficulty and challenges of bringing something like this live, but when in doubt, don't broadcast because people anticipated the keynote only to have it marred by technical difficulties.
Website Woes and Pre Order Madness
For the first time since the iPhone 5, there was a pre order for the iPhone. What made this pre order different was that there was, for an iPhone purchaser, a choice. That choice was either the 4.7 inch iPhone 6 or the 5.5 inch iPhone plus. Between choice and pent up demand for a larger iPhone, demand for a new iPhone was astronomical from what Apple is saying (Numbers have yet to be announced) which caused some issues.
I will give you a timeline of what the process of pre ordering was for me. At 2:40 am EST I woke up, readied my iPhone, iPad, and Mac to attempt to preorder an iPhone 6 plus, 64 gig, gold iPhone on AT&T through Apple. By 2:59 am EST, the hype was building and I was eagerly hitting refresh as often as I could. By 3:05 am EST, the store and app were both down and were down for the next 40 minutes for me. By 3:43 am EST, frustration had set in as some people had posted on twitter getting their iPhones through Apple. Finally, at 3:58 am EST, I had secured the iPhone that I wanted. Sure the process wasn't ideal, but I understand the challenges that come with an iPhone preorder. On record too, MacRumors.com, ATT.com, verizon.com, and others all had issues as well. However, following a botched keynote delivery fresh on the minds, the timing of this wasn’t ideal.
New Product Category
A history keynote in and of itself ending with a famous phrase that harkens back to the days of the late Steve Jobs with “One more thing…” Tim Cook came out beaming as he introduced the Apple Watch and showing it off. I lost track of the times he fist pumped the air showing off the watch. You could see the joy on his face which told the whole story. He couldn't wait to show something really cool that no one really knew much about. The unveiling reminded me of the iPhone and iPad unveilings Steve Jobs did. For the first time, I felt like Tim Cook finally acknowledged the fact that Steve is gone, but his influence isn’t, and he came out from under the shadow of Steve for the public. The new Apple is here and looks poised to be a major player that it has always been.
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