No new iPhone for me - yet

Alex and I went over to the CambridgeSide Galleria tonight to see about getting an iPhone 3G. I was a little concerned about trying to upgrade just now, before going away for the weekend, but Alex was unreasonably gung ho to get one on the first day. We thought we would try our trick of hitting the Apple Store in the evening after the line had petered out, but this line didn't look like it was going to peter out. Finally, when the Apple Store employee assured us that we didn't have to upgrade simultaneously even though we're on a family plan, we decided that Alex would get in line to try to get his phone tonight, and I would go home, get ready for my trip, and come back for mine next week. It means I'll be paying the higher data cost for 3G service for a few days without having 3G service, but I think it will save me a lot of aggravation to upgrade after the rush is over. So I'm waiting eagerly to hear if Alex succeeds tonight.

One of the sources of confusion is that Apple decided for some crazy reason to upgrade both the software and hardware on the same day. So not only are the new iPhone buyers trying to reach the servers to activate their phones, but everybody who owns an old iPhone is trying to download the new software. So there's total gridlock on the servers and many unhappy customers. This seems like a really stupid rookie mistake that I would not have expected of Apple. On the other hand, I think I'm quickly learning not to try to do stuff on the first day of release anymore.

The great feature of the new software is that it allows client apps on the iPhone. There are many interesting apps available and many of them are free or very inexpensive. There's a new Typepad app that will make it easier for me to upload real-time photos to my blog. I'm also looking forward to a free ebook reader that will be very handy for reading books while travelling. And games, of course, including some cute games that use the iPhone's accelerometer as a controller. 

Just have to wait until next week...