It seems that activation is so tough right now some AT&T stores are letting customers leave without activating their iPhones. Our advice: do not leave the store without getting it activated, at least for today.

Meanwhile, there’s even worse news: people who applied the 2.0 update to their first-generation iPhones are reporting that since iTunes is hurting so much, they can’t connect to activate their phone.

In other words, hold off on that update for a bit, otherwise the only person you may be able to call today is going to be 911, and as unhappy as you may be about the entire situation, the police really don’t want to hear about it.

I myself, do not follow my own advice sometimes and promprtly began the update just after 8:00am EST. Yeah.  Two hours later, I threw my laptop, phone and cables in a backpack, hoped on my motorcycle and headed over to the Apple Store at Perimeter Mall.  There I was greeted by a line of some 1,000 + people... a lot of them with the same problem.  More as we get word.

Update (1:12pm EST): If you’re looking at a non-functional iPhone 3G that can’t be activated but your old phone had its SIM de-activated, pop the new sim out and slap it in your old phone so you can at least make some calls and such.

This is not a corporate endorsement of the iPhone, iTunes, Apple or at&t. I paid for my iPhone and I get a bill from at&t every month just like you. FYI.

What does this mean? I think it means more than just being able to see those cool little web widgets when surfing.  I think it means also being able to enjoy cool things like Flash NCAA Tournament brackets, the countless amount of high quality Flash video that we post right here on 99X.com in our AVRoom and the occasional high quality adult website. Maybe.  Just saying.

So now it's just a process to measure and see who has the biggest... ego.  It's also time to figure out who's going to pay for the development and how they will recoup those expenses. I seriously expect this part of the process to be over in a few months and for all iPhone owners to have Flash on their devices mid-year to early fall.  What qualifies me to make this estimate? Nothing. Just guessing and following past trends.  

This is not a corporate endorsement of the iPhone, iTunes, Apple or at&t. I paid for my iPhone and I get a bill from at&t every month just like you. FYI.

I'll gather up details and link back to some blogs with more info as soon as I can.

This is not a corporate endorsement of the iPhone, iTunes, Apple or at&t. I paid for my iPhone and I get a bill from at&t every month just like you. FYI.

$160 is basically, what, three or four dinners out with a date? One or two if its in Buckhead?  Seriously, rent a movie thru On-Demand or even the old fashioned way at Blockbuster, make some dinner at home, save that $160 and get an iPhone.

Since this is my first posting I'll get some things out of they way that need to be said... I am not an Apple person. I have not been drinking Steve Jobs Kool-Aid. I certainly do not have one of those ridiculous little white Apple stickers on the back of my car. I am simply a gadget guy. I like gadgets. And Time Magazine chose the iPhone as its 2007 Invention Of The Year for a reason.

I am also not an early adopter. I did not rush right out, like some of my colleagues here at 99X, and try to grab the first iPhone off the shelf. I DID however drive around the Perimeter Mall area and take a look at the crazy long lines last summer and think to myself "there is no way that phone is worth all of that."  I was wrong.

I am new to the iPhone. Had it only a week. But I can't stay off iPhone sites, blogs, etc. I will gather what I think is the best of that info and link to it here, post it here or embed the videos right here if it's something I think you might find useful.

The point to this first post is this... break the contract, pay the fee and get an iPhone. apple has made it so easy you won't even have to deal with at&t OR your current provider. The whole thing takes place on YOUR computer via iTunes. Get those details here (courtesy of Apple.com).

This is not a corporate endorsement of the iPhone, iTunes, Apple or at&t. I paid for my iPhone and I get a bill from at&t every month just like you. FYI.