Hopping mad .. Apple/ATT blows it again and again and again and again and etc

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

I agree completely with Lauren.  djf


Begin forwarded message:

From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren () vortex com>
Date: June 15, 2010 12:18:28 PM EDT
To: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Subject: Re: [IP] Hopping mad .. Apple/ATT blows it again and again and again and again and etc


Dave,

While Norman's call for patience is laudable, I believe it misses the
point.  When firms of Apple's and AT&T's scale deploy an ordering
system for a product that will obviously have high demand, heavy
publicity, and is important to both companies' bottom lines, common
sense alone dictates that the ordering system be engineered to be as
smooth as possible, especially when (as in AT&T's case) the spotlight
is already on previous infrastructure lapses and limitations.

While no order system can handle infinite orders at the same time, and
no system is perfect, the design requirements to handle extremely
large online and telephone-based ordering loads (think of responses to
highly visible national TV ads during sports events, etc.) are quite
well understood.

Of course, if companies choose to cut corners in their ordering system
deployments, on the assumption that customers want their products so
very badly that they'll put up with any level of Kafkaesque ordering
hoops and errors, then that's another matter entirely.

--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein
lauren () vortex com
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
http://www.pfir.org/lauren
Co-Founder, PFIR
  - People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org
Co-Founder, NNSquad
  - Network Neutrality Squad - http://www.nnsquad.org
Founder, GCTIP - Global Coalition 
  for Transparent Internet Performance - http://www.gctip.org
Founder, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com
Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenweinstein

- - -


On 06/15 11:47, David Farber wrote:
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: "Norman MacLeod" <gaelwolf () waypt com>
> Date: June 15, 2010 11:38:41 AM EDT
> To: <dave () farber net>
> Subject: RE: [IP] Hopping mad .. Apple/ATT blows it again and again and again and again and etc
>
> While I fully understand everyone's frustration, and while I fully intend to
> get one of those new iPhones, I have opted not to experience the same
> frustration.
>
> How have I accomplished this?
>
> Simple.
>
> I recognize that I do not really NEED that iPhone immediately.  So, I intend
> to rely upon a commodity that seems to be in short supply these days.
>
> Patience.
>
> Come next month, when all of those who are howling this morning have their
> new iPhones in hand, and have lower blood pressures than they do right now,
> I will stroll into my local AT&T store, pick up one of those new iPhones,
> and have a nice chat with the smiling AT&T representative who may or may not
> know what he/she is doing, and then walk out of that store with my new
> iPhone.
>
> There is no way that I have time or desire to go to a swamped website or
> battle my way into an AT&T store whose employees will be more harried and
> frustrated than I am and attempt to get a new iPhone and a potential, if
> short-term, health problem.
>
> I remember, and can live through, the concept of waiting until the right
> time . . . sort of like what previous generations taught us in the days
> before instant gratification was the tune the world had to march to.
>
> So, this morning, I'm not going to be tearing my hair out.  Don't need the
> self-inflicted pain here.
>
> Besides, given the track records of the two companies involved when it comes
> to doing something new, did we really expect it would be different this
> time?
>
>       Norm
>
>
>
>
>
>
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