Buying Apple - Rule 2 - Never buy an Apple Product on Day One

Last week, in my post Holway in a quandary over the iPhone, I introduced you to Holway's Apple Rule 1 Never Buy a Version 1 of any Apple Product.

Can I now add my Apple Rule 2 - Never buy an Apple Product on Day One. I've had several emails from readers who have been exasperated by Apple, Carphone Warehouse or O2 (or all of them!) and have cancelled their iPhone orders as a result. I must admit I was 'late on parade' at the O2 shop in Farnham last Friday. It was unexpectedly closed when I arrived at noon. I guess I was fortunate! Many people who managed to get one of the scarce iPhones have had great problems in getting them to work - even today. Even then they had to settle for the 8gb version. Why would anyone settle for that knowing that they have to keep it for the duration of the O2 18 month contract?

Anyway, none of this seems to have spoilt the Apple party. They reported selling 1m over the last weekend. God Steve Jobs said “iPhone 3G had a stunning opening weekend. It took 74 days to sell the first 1 million original iPhones, so the iPhone 3G is off to a great start.” However, many seem to question this figure. It all depends on what you mean by "sell". Looks as if Apple counts a sale as "shipped". Last weekend, many of the iPhones shipped had not been activated. The activited figure could well be under 500,000.

It's all a bit academic. Apple and its partners will fix the problems. As Nintendo found with the Wii, a bit of a shortage does wonders for demand.

I'll wait a few weeks for a 16gb version. Although the Blackberry Bold might be out by then...