So I had a few separate experiences with this over the weekend:
1) A friend stood in line for a few hours, got to the front, found out they didn't have the color he wanted and left.
2) A colleague in another company got one and she immediately remarked, "it looks just like Android!".
3) A neighbor returned theirs because they couldn't read all the low contrast stuff on the tiny screen.
4) Another neighbor has kept theirs, but complains all the colors and things are too bright and too loud.
5) Another neighbor went in to buy his, got some time to play with it, decided he didn't like it and went and bought a couple Galaxy S4s for him and his wife instead.
6) Coworker said he like it, thought the control panel and "slide away the background apps" was great. Hated that the slide away the emails is now the wrong way.
1) A friend stood in line for a few hours, got to the front, found out they didn't have the color he wanted and left.
– At the Apple store I was at, Apple staff greeted people entering the queue, asked them what they intended to purchase and gave them a card (reservation)
2) A colleague in another company got one and she immediately remarked, "it looks just like Android!".
– You overheard a conversation in another company? Good ears. Extra credit for "she".
3) A neighbor returned theirs because they couldn't read all the low contrast stuff on the tiny screen.
– "Hey neighbour! I couldn't help noticing you aren't mowing your lawn with a phone?!" "The screen was too tiny neighbourino!"
4) Another neighbor has kept theirs, but complains all the colors and things are too bright and too loud.
– "IT'S TOO LOUD, HOW DO YOU SHUT IT OFF?? I'M BLIND!!!"
5) Another neighbor went in to buy his, got some time to play with it, decided he didn't like it and went and bought a couple Galaxy S4s for him and his wife instead.
– 'Hey Wifey, wanna line up in this 2 hour queue? Dum, de dum [two hours in the queue pass]. Oh hey, we're at the front of the queue! Nah this sucks. Wanna go buy some Samsung Galaxies? YES!'
6) Coworker said he like it, thought the control panel and "slide away the background apps" was great. Hated that the slide away the emails is now the wrong way.
– Your astro-turfing obviously disinterests you, as does your job and it shows dude :[ Quit your job.
> – At the Apple store I was at, Apple staff greeted people entering the queue, asked them what they intended to purchase and gave them a card (reservation)
Didn't do that at either of the two Apple stores I'm aware of (there are 5 in my area), or the three AT&T stores my friends went to.
> – You overheard a conversation in another company? Good ears. Extra credit for "she".
Grownup companies sometimes do things together, not every other company is your competitor.
> – "Hey neighbour! I couldn't help noticing you aren't mowing your lawn with a phone?!" "The screen was too tiny neighbourino!"
My neighborhood has a very active community message board and I know many of the member personally from neighborhood events.
> – "IT'S TOO LOUD, HOW DO YOU SHUT IT OFF?? I'M BLIND!!!"
Here are the exact quotes
Neighbor 1: "I'm not a fan. Hate what they did to ical. The new icons look like they are for small children (that i can get over). And the bright white is obnoxious. What the hell did they do to safari?? I'm sad ... But im sure i will eventually get used to it. "
Neighbor 2: "I'm not "upgrading" yet. Hate the font."
Neighbor 1: "Everything is bright white and hard for me read...feeling old."
Neighbor 3: "So far I actually like it. The calendar took me a minute to get used to as well. At first I didn't like it until I realized you get a 5 day shot when you turn it on its side. I can't figure out how to do a list view yet - is there one?"
Neighbor 1: "I have light sensitivity issues (Astigmatism in both eyes - and I also have cataracts - God I sound old!) so the bright white is just harsh for me and not having huge contrasting colors is also hard on my eyes. Yep I agree the one swipe to have controls is nice and I do like what they did with the photos."
Neighbor 4: "Steve Jobs is probably rolling over in his grave right now..."
Neighbor 5: "I downloaded on my iPhone the other night, not a fan. But I downloaded on my iPad earlier today, and I don't mind it at all. But it is way too bright."
Neighbor 1: "Thank you for saying its too bright ... I was beginning to wonder if it was me."
> – 'Hey Wifey, wanna line up in this 2 hour queue? Dum, de dum [two hours in the queue pass]. Oh hey, we're at the front of the queue! Nah this sucks. Wanna go buy some Samsung Galaxies? YES!'
Talked to him in person (he's next door). And that was pretty much the conversation.
> – Your astro-turfing obviously disinterests you, as does your job and it shows dude :[ Quit your job.
Minimally, the first point is wrong. Official Apple Retail stores all do this the same way. Reservation cards were provided. It's possible that the person while in line was informed they didn't have the color they wanted and left, but highly, highly unlikely (unless they entered later in the day) that they made it into the store and had to walk out.
FWIW, I did see a few people leave because the color they wanted was not available, either to try a carrier store or order online and wait.
Also, 9M in sales and the huge upgrade numbers pretty much speak for themselves. YMMV, but the anecdotes from your circle are not reflective of what happened.
You're probably right about the apple brand stores. My personal network didn't relay it that way though. Time will tell if these are sustainable sales figures. They are certainly impressive no matter what. But with a year between phones, I don't think a weekend hit sales model is the best way to do things.
I guess my analogy must have been confusing, since you assumed that the "line waiting" referred to Samsung phones...which it clearly does not since nobody waits in line for Samsung phones.
I was interviewed at the launch of the 5S, the interviewer noted that Samsung runs commercials making fun of people waiting in line for the latest Apple whatever. I noted that Samsung WISHED they had people waiting in line for their products.
Looks like around 9 million, if you assume 1 phone per person. One way Apple does it is by having good marketing, but I think the more important way they do it is by having consistently excellent consumer satisfaction ratings for their mobile products.
7) Reseller gets homeless people to queue up overnight at the Apple Store in Pasadena, California. Apple refuses to honor the homeless people queuing, so then the reseller refuses to pay them, resulting in fights and arrests.
1) A friend stood in line for a few hours, got to the front, found out they didn't have the color he wanted and left.
2) A colleague in another company got one and she immediately remarked, "it looks just like Android!".
3) A neighbor returned theirs because they couldn't read all the low contrast stuff on the tiny screen.
4) Another neighbor has kept theirs, but complains all the colors and things are too bright and too loud.
5) Another neighbor went in to buy his, got some time to play with it, decided he didn't like it and went and bought a couple Galaxy S4s for him and his wife instead.
6) Coworker said he like it, thought the control panel and "slide away the background apps" was great. Hated that the slide away the emails is now the wrong way.