APPLE STILL MAGICAL

Despite an abundance of technical flaws that prevented many orders from going through, Apple announced that it took in more than 600,000 orders for the new iPhone 4 last Tuesday, which was the designated “pre-order” day in advance of next Thursday’s official launch.

Apple was forced to apologize to frustrated customers who experienced a plethora of delays and time outs in the online ordering process, which affected the websites of Apple and AT&T, as well as the in- store AT&T ordering system. Apple attributed the problems to overwhelmingly high demand and asked customers to “try again or visit an Apple or carrier store once the iPhone 4 is in stock.”  Although the problems seem to be fixed as of today, the new iPhone 4 is so popular, both Apple and AT&T have a back order online shipping date now listed as July 14th, nearly 3 weeks after its official availability in stores.

“It was the largest number of pre-orders Apple has ever taken in a single day and was far higher than we anticipated, resulting in many order and approval system malfunctions,” Apple said in a statement.  But despite the ordering glich “It shows the Apple magic is still present,” said Gerry Purdy, a mobile analyst at MobileTrax. “It’s impressive.”