After 7 hours of trying off and on I was finally able to order two iPhones from the Apple website for delivery on June 24th. The majority of the time I experienced session timeout messages along with request could not be processed messages. Then suddenly around 3:30 PM PST the store started responding and I quickly completed the checkout process. I had to place two separate orders for each of the lines on our family plan, which is kind of dumb, but at least I got them both ordered.

Now I’m wondering: did Steve plan it this way all along? Was the website tuned to respond sporadically to instill a sense of panic among its visitors? Though technical difficulties reflect poorly upon a technology company they also generate lots of free publicity. Apple has famously exploited this type of marketing in the past. The difficulty in obtaining a device such as the iPhone makes it more coveted. Perhaps Steve is having a chuckle to himself as he watches his perfectly executed marketing plan unfold.