Calling John Appleseed...: "

Filed under: Cult of Mac, Odds and ends, iPhone

Do you get the sense that Apple goofed up a bit while rushing out the iPhone activation videos? It's not just the 80GB iPhone. Aren't all fake numbers supposed to start with a 555? Anyway, yes, this is the same phone number for John Appleseed that was in the iPhone preview video from last Friday. And, yes, I did give the number a call to see what would happen thinking it would connect me to an Apple/AT&T ad. Instead, I heard 'The mailbox for number 408-550-3542 is full and cannot accept new messages at this time. Please try again later.'

I also dropped John Appleseed a note at his dotMac account, but he didn't reply to that either.

Update: Just called again. This time I got the message 'Hello, you've reached the brand new iPhone of John Appleseed.' He invited me to visit Apple.com. After, a standard-sounding voicemail prompt instructed me to record my message after the tone.

"(Via The Unofficial Apple Weblog.)

Now THAT is just blasted smart. Someone at Apple or AT&T really got their act together. What I find particularly interesting about it is that they clearly did it after the fact", that it was a response, rather than a planned out "Oh, won't this be cool?"

I know, having doe it intentionally would have been more calculating and shown more forethought, but I honestly am more impressed by a quick response than wide-ranging marketing plan. Shows you can think on your feet. Because that phone number may have been an accident.

So, am *I* getting an iPhone? Dunno. John Gruber over at Daring Fireball has dug up a rumor that it will have IMAP support, which would move me from my current "wait and see" stance to a "maybe we need to try one of these puppies".

Of course, this presumes we can even get our hands on one of these things. It'll be interesting to see how they sell.

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