Update: OH BOY... I'm not sure what's going on here, but I just received a flood of emails from Verizon people letting me know that if your BlackBerry Storm wasn't ordered before 2pm EST today that it will not be shipping until DECEMBER 5th!
Update: Posted by Reuters - Hundreds Wait at Verizon Stores for BlackBerry Storm! >>
Update: I think we can safely say Verizon and RIM have succeeded in making the Storm's launch the most anticipated of any BlackBerry smartphone to date. With lineups at Verizon stores throughout the country and in many cases less devices in stock than people waiting outside (and in some cases no devices in stock!), it'll be a day of mixed emotions. A ton of you are going to be pumped to be among the first to own RIM's touchscreen BlackBerry, while some of you are going to be p!$$ed that you chased after the Storm today to have it escape your grasp on Day 1. Keep the comments and forums rock'n with your experiences. Let us know how did!! And let us know your thoughts on the Storm! *
Ok BlackBerry Storm Chasers, today is your day!!! I've been receiving emails from tons of Storm fanactics today - some of you are already camping out as I post this (just after midnight), while many of you are going to show up an hour or two early and see how the situation looks. We've been hearing scattered reports from Verizon employees all day - it seems some stores have received way less than the expected number of units (as in six Storms to sell, but over a hundred units have been pre-ordered from that location), while other stores only a few miles away seem to have plenty. Depending on how things go, you may literally have to chase down the Storm if you want to get one on the first day. Be sure to report back in the comments and let us know how things are going and email in your pics or videos to editorial @ crackberry.com
And in a solute to all of the CrackBerry Storm Addicts out there, Verizon has added the What Would You Do for a BlackBerry Storm? Contest Winners to their corporate intranet for all Verizon employees to see. Sweet! We've posted five winning videos so far and still have the remainder to debut on the site over the next couple of days. I meant to get them up sooner (everyone has now completed their To Do!), but between the Round Robin, Storm Craziness, and being sick I fell a bit behind on this. In honor of the Storm's official launch on Verizon, I suggest using a few minutes today to re-watch all of the winning videos that have aired so far! Good Luck Storm Chasers!!!!
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405 comments
As I type I am on IHOP's internet outside the Verizon store in Carrollton, GA waiting on one of the 6 blackberry storms!!!
I'm there with ya in spirit my friend.
Waiting in line at Scottsdale, AZ Promenade store for almost two hours. A guy ahead of me worked for GoDaddy & bought 15-20 Storms. Another guy bought 5 Storms. They ran out a couple people ahead of me.
Verizon should have limited the sale to one phone per person in line. Would I have left Verizon because I didn't get the Storm today due to low supply? No. Did I leave Verizon for not valuing my time more than the 20 GoDaddy employees that got my phone while not waiting in line? Yes.
Good thing there was an AT&T store across the street. Say hello to my new Bold. At least now I know GoDaddy won't bogart my future phone purchases since they are on Verizon. Plus AT&T only allows one phone purchase per person in line (iPhone launch).
I think you don't get the whole picture here-- VZW is a sales driven company. If you were a commissioned sales rep, would you turn down a 20 Blackberry order? All that data?
HELL NO you wouldn't. You can't! That rep did what he absolutely had to do.
as a prior vzw sales rep, i would have put an order in for the company. in fact, i would have set the expectation that any more than 1 purchase of a storm, i would have ordered through the warehouse for the customer. its only in fairness to everyone else. you still get paid on orders. but now, like a poster before said, you alienated a potential buyer and they moved to another company to get the exact same revenue that you just gave up.
I could not wait to get the "STORM". I arrived a my Verizon store at 0930, and they were SOLD OUT. But I did get to play with the two active ones on display (WHAT A DISPOINTMENT!!!!!!!!!) The STORM felt cheaply made! Plus the Screen/Touch Screen floated around, it was not well fitted to the phone. Not just on the one, but both had the same problem. I also tried to enter data in the Calender and Appointment Book. It was VERY difficult to type on.
I LOVE VERIZONWIRELESS AND BLACKBERRY, but I will stick with the best phone ever made, my "BlackBerry Curve 8330".
For those of you how bought. I think you really should have played with the phone. I hope the next generation of the STORM is better.
Sorry!
You forget that the floor models get ALOT of action. So basing your judgment on that fact alone is not fair to the device! The phones screen does move (as it is a surepress screen). I am not attempting to bring you back to the storm but I am just stating the fact that you did not try a device that was "fresh". BOTH devices that I tried today at the store were solid. Yes the screen moves, yes it is an unnatural feeling. The only problem I see to that is the gap between the screen and the case itself (quite stupid that they did not have some sort of rubber/silicone/something to keep dust/moisture out. But it remains to be seen. I am sure that many users will report their finds in regards to the issues of the phone. But to play with the phone without actually having it for more than five minutes and make such a statement is unsound.
Don't get me wrong, I will give the Storm another try. I do love VZW & BlackBerry. But even a floor model that does not have more then 20 hours, or even 50 hours of use, should not be like that. I have already logged over several hundred hours on my Curve 8330, and it still looks brand new. I will try a new one from the box.
"Q"
Talk about a bust of a day. All the hype and to have 5 phones and the Worst customer service ever! Shows what 10 years of loyality gets you these days. John B from the store must of been hired off the street, last night. Biggest release ever and it's a bust in typical verizon fashion. Couldn't be more disappointed in verizon....was looking for an excuse to switch to AT&T and I think that John B and the staff at 2435 Route 38 in Cherry Hill NJ have given more than enough reasons now. Was really looking forward to the Storm but the want to screw me?!?! In the name of Chase Utley...F#*% You Verizon and Iphone here we come!
Im with you F#$K YOU VERIZON AND YOUR B.S. UPGRADE POLICY. BEING A VIP ETC AND I HAVE TO PAY FULL PRICE. IM LOOKING FOR A REASON TO GO TO ATT ALSO BY THE WAY VERIZON IM SURE ATT WILL ENJOY MY BUSINESS. ONCE AGAIN VERIZON F@$% YOU !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
FYI: AT & T Network sucks. So if I was you I wouldn't base one bad experience on your decision. The only reason why so many people went to AT & T was for the Iphone... which my boyfriend loves but, the network sucks. I use Verizon and I always have way better reception then him.
Sitting outside the verizon store at the Mall of Ga. Been here since 430am. First one here, only one other person. Makes me wonder if the reviews are as bad as they are saying, no matter I've been waiting for this for six months, and talking the talk to all my friends. Made contact with the store manager when he arrived and handed me a the 1st customer ticket. Glad that Starbucks is right next door. Oh and it just happens that today is my one year upgrade mark. Ironic I think. So all you haters talking bad about the "Storm" all I can say is (be like a Bonjovi song and "keep the faith").
1167
I called over 20 verizon stores in NY and they all told me very similar things.
#1. First batch of Storm they were going to sell today in the morning was recalled due to software issues. ( im assuming .65 as oppose to .82)
#2. New batch of Storms are coming early next week, Mon-Tues
#3. If you are expecting the Storm in the store today, make sure OS is .82 !! and not .65 ( .65 is buggy )
#4. Careful buying the Storm online, they can ship you the .65 recalled version, and that would just suck. I personally don't want the Storm to come Monday or Tuesday and i want it today/tomorrow and latest Sunday !
#5. Im listed waiting in like 10 different stores that are "expecting" the Storm later on today. We'll see what happens and if they call me or not.
I'm not sure which one I have. I think I have .65.. this thing is terrible.
v4.7.0.65 (Platform 4.0.0.82) please tell me that doesn't mean I have .82. If this is .82 I'm returning it.
Looks like a 0.65, but I'm not sure. I wouldn't worry too much though, it's really easy to upgrade your firmware. There will be updates coming for it for the next 3 years.
Yea you have the .65....... mine is doing mess'n up too....
i got the .65 as well and it works pretty good but i can see where the bugs are for sure. my wife is hating me right now because hers is freezing all the time. i hope we can upgrade soon!
I waited starting at 630am and was first in line. Dedham, MA store. They had 10 total devices. Some guy thought it would be a good idea to start a list outside so we could wait in our cars. Genius!
Got my phone and am loving it. It is definitely buggy. But not too bad. Its exactly as Kevin said you have to treat it the way it wants to be treated.
started waiting this morning at 5:45 in vestal (binghamton(upstate)) NY. i was #2 in line. myself and 5 other people were the only ones there til 7 at which point about 40 people came between 7 and 7:15. at 8 they finally let the first 6 in to buy. needless to say it was nice to get out of the 17 degree heat here in NY. i'm still cold but i got my reward
Talk about a small world, I was number 9.
Well, once again Verizon has served only to under-achieve. Stores in Chicagoland, on November 21st, only received 5-10 Storms each. This left 95+% of folks forced to wait until AFTER NOVEMBER 21st or place a mail order at the store.
Why is Verizon continuously Far Far behind the eight ball when it comes to state of the art technological tools for the business person. They have set themselves up as a company that targets the teeny bopper and entertainment crowd with their Glides and Voyagers. Finally, when they do come out with something business professionals are intrigued about, they cannot come close to meeting the demand as promised. Excuses about software updates are unacceptable. Verizon and RIM have had more than enough time to have dealt with these prior to the "much anticipated" launch.
One a day that Verizon could have met the market place, which they have been watching go by for so long, with a BANG they so up with a THUD! Sure, there will be those with cerebral masses the size of a flea who will stand in line or accept a mail order solely to be part of the "latest and greatest". These are the folks who keep mis-managed American companies in business by not using their economic vote and going somewhere else.
Furthermore, after spending over an hour evaluating the Storm in the now empty store, it is far from the hype that the company has propagated. First of all, its responsiveness comes no where close to the Iphone. It takes forever for the phone to recognize an orientation switch from portrait to landscape. The browser speed is slow and it does not offer WiFi to improve this. I know that normal Blackberry users, and for that matter any hard keyboard users, will not like it. The only superiority this device has over the IPhone is the click-through screen that gives you some response to your efforts. This alone will not allow this device to compete with the IPhone.
I admit, I was initially willing to go in a purchase a new Storm and give it a lengthy chance to prove itself. I, too, was caught up in the hype. Well, now that the "hype" has been lost by Verizon's failure to provide adequate supply, I have revisited my desire and have chosen to use logic rather than emotion in this purchase.
Good luck RIM and Verizon, you will need it. Initially you will get those I previously mentioned who will flock to the Storm. Once folks get to truly experience the limitations of the product you will find it will serve to harm your business more in the long run rather than help it.
I work at that store, sucks that we did only have 6 we shipped out well over 50 I think today...great sales the demo booth went well after we got the phones working with the new software (no thanks to me) great day today small world
Kevin any update on when RIM will be doing something about the compatibility between the loyal Blackberry users who are purchasing a Storm and are using Macs. I'm going to be heartbroken tomorrow if I can't sync my Mac with my Storm?
Good luck with that. I've been waiting for a decent version (read equivalent) of Desktop Manager for years and years now and all we have is the shitty PocketMac. I doubt they are going to get moving on it now.
Try missingsync... not free like pocket mac but way better.
The word is the Storm will be avail to order online at 3:02 AM
Not hardcore yet, I am the only one here and I have all the seats down in my element typing this. Guess there are not enough stupid people in Georgia like me!!
That's crazy! Hope you get one!
I'm down in Sugar Land, TX and today I went into the Verizon store to get more information about the Storm tomorrow and if it'd be even worth showing up early. The woman working there had said people have been calling in and putting their name on a list? And tomorrow when they get their shipment in they'll start at the top of the list and call people telling them to come in and get their phone. If they can't make it in by a certain time, they go to the next person until they run out of Blackberries. LAME they never told me about a list!
BTW...cop just asked me why I am park outside of Verizon..hehe... told him why, and he laughed!! What is wrong with this world?!!
As we speak, I have a bag with two fleece blankets, extra coat, sweaters and scarves and hats for my camp out which is about to begin at 2 am. I found out today my location will only have 10 Storms and let me tell you, I will be #1. Not many people in my town would do this because I live in the middle of no where, but I will my addicted friends, I will.
I can't wait until it's in my hands!!!! :):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)
I<3youBlackberry.
I am the only one here but expect more to show up!! 1 hour down 8 more to go......:). I guess I am not the only crazy addict around?
The reviews are in: The Storm is a complete disaster, a misfire in its basic conception, let alone execution.
It’s a complete disaster because fails in its most basic aim: to offer consumers a better way to type and input text on a touchscreen than the iPhone or other similar devices.
It seems that anybody who actually has USED the thing from more than a couple of hours--versus delusional BlackBerry fanboys thumping their chests about the Great iPhone Killer based on RIM's paid celebrity-sellout hype machine using staged events and auto show girls--quickly discovers that typing is a drag on the Storm.
So is the maddening, lagging user interface after two days.
Consequently, the Storm will fail to draw any of us away from our superior physical keyboards on the Bold, Curve, etc. and fail to siphon off iPhone customers.
The news for RIM couldn’t be worse.
But don’t take my word for it. Try the Storm for yourself. I did, awhile ago, and promptly dumped my RIM stock while it was still at $138.
Be honest, though. If you're buying the Storm tomorrow, I want it to be your "one and only" BlackBerry, not just a second "toy" you play with while you do your business on a Bold or Curve.
Now if you're willing to stick with the Storm for more than two weeks as your "one and only BlackBerry," I’ll gladly listen to your rhapsodies about how easy it was for you to forget everything you ever loved about typing on a BlackBerry so you could retrain yourself on the Big Button.
The Storm isn't really made purely on the fact that it wants to compete with the iPhone or give users a better way to type. It's RIMS first touch screen. Yea the reviews point out some negative stuff, but all in all as (i) a palm user. Switching to a blackberry couldn't have been better with the Storm coming. Thats what i think, and i will let you know how the storm is when i get my hands on it today. I am a tech person that utilizes gadget to its full potential (or try to).
Who gives a shit? it's been said a million times, you either like it, or you don't. Some will, some don't. Quit yo crying already fanboy. So, this means you won't be waiting inline come 1hr? good! less line/wait for some bbers!
The Storm wasn't even available for you to try when RIMM's stock price was at $138, which was back in June. Plus, the stock drop had nothign to do with the Storm, but rather the economy and RIMM's overall outlook on sales because of the economic situation.
Well David R, i have been playing around with my storm for about 4 hours now (got mine @ 6am) and have put it through the standard tests of texting, bb messenger, web browsing, emailing, etc and without drawing this out all i can say is this device is truly the iphone killer. the typing is amazing once you understand how their system works. sure the first 30 minutes were tricky but now its like im on my old 8800.
Perhaps it was user error when you tested the storm and not software/design problems.
I live in NY and im at home comfy in bed right now 1:15 am and patiently awaiting my Storm for the afternoon at my nearby verizon store. I really hope the Storm is not like the Nintendo Wii when it first came out, being sold out everywhere ..
I agree the storm may have its flaws, but until you actually use it for longer than the 10 minutes in the store, you can't throw a post up like that. But I guess there is a "lemon" in every crowd. Oh well, back to waiting.
I saw that your first in line at the verizon store camping out, thats hardcore dude. The only time i ever camped out was for a PS3 on release date and i couldnt get it. But then again, i was #20 in line haha !
It's freezing cold too .. Well im here for ya, keep you company over the internet :)
Do you think theres actually going to be a shortage, making it necessary for you to even camp out.
word is that there is a shortage and each store is only gonna get 10storms
The verizon store which is 5 minute from my house told me that they won't get the storm til the "Afternoon" like what the heck. I hope hes not bsing me, i was going to get the storm and renew my contract ..
I have a friend that works at the Verizon store. She said that the only had 6 Blackberry Storms to sell. She also said that from what she hears, all the other local stores only got 6 or 7 in as well. Go figure!! Oh yeah BTW thanks for the company,I wish my laptop was not dying so I could chat a little longer. Oh well, I have 20 minutes left on the battery, throw up the posts my friend.
arrite i just put a call into a friend that works at verizon in hayward, ca and he said that they're only gonna get like 10 in, they're taking orders to have them shipped to peoples houses by sat at 12:01am, but he has a friend that works at the best buy across the free way from his verizon and is gonna call her and find out if they got any storms in and how many
Stay strong buddy, don't forget to post reviews and your thoughts on the Storm once you get your hands on it. I will be sleeping the night and start my Storm hunt in the afternoon ... ( i live in New York ) i am hoping there will be no shortage !
I heard that some stores in metro cities created a reserve list. I called my local store and it is on a first come first serve basis and they only have 50 units. They are opening at 6am, so I think I'll head over there around 4am and cross my fingers. If I don't get one I'll order it and get it in time for thanksgiving. I think I'll take my DS to keep me company for the few hours of waiting.
All the reviews, bah. Most of the reviews came from iPhone lovers and I hate the iPhone. It WAS an overpriced iPod and I used it for 3 months before getting my 8830BB which I love. As the 8830 in the beginning had so many bugs and I still have lag issues to this day, but I get what I need to get done with which is mainly email usage, plus it is a blackberry!!! I figure if I can't use the storm I can always sell it on ebay or return the thing and pick up the curve. I'm a blackberry fan for life.
Cheers to Dave-o's Spirit!!
Thanks. It's just another blackberry device. If you don't like it, it's not the end of the world. There are plenty of other blackberry devices to choose from, plus I'm sure the next revision of the storm will be more refined, but at least we'll be able to use the first. :)
I will be getting up at 5am to hopefully be the 1st in line!! If there is a loooong line I will be calling customer service on the spot to have mine delivered Sat!!!
I'm waiting until like 3 or 4 am and going to head to my local verizon store, its way to cold to be out there and i haven't really seen people standing out waiting for it.....plus i heard my local verizon store is only getting 8 copies, good luck to all waiting for it