iPhone 3G Failure to Launch

So it’s Monday the 7th of July, the second week in to July, and most importantly the week the iPhone 3G is officially released in Canada.  Or is it?  Unless you’ve been hibernating in a cave without internet, you may have heard something about the horrendous Rogers voice/data plans for the iPhone 3G.  There is currently a major backlash against Rogers in regards to this announcement causing insanity throughout Canada.

If you read my last post about this matter, I ended my rant with a “f*ck you Rogers“.  This site now sports a more media-family-friendly name and is able to spread the news to a wider audience.  Ever since then they have gained massive attention by allowing Canadians (or anyone for that matter) to give their piece of mind about Rogers.  Their original goal was to have at least 25,000 signatures by July 11 (day of launch) to then be printed and delivered personally to Rogers.  Well, it seems as though they have reached their goal and there’s no sign of stopping anytime soon.  The site currently reads 43,000 signatures and there’s still 4 days to go.  They’re surely to hit 50,000 by launch day, an impressive number as they only started it about 2 weeks ago.  They have also managed to have their story featured in major media channels such as CBC, National Post, GlobalTV, Digg, and much more.  It’s about time someone takes a stab at Rogers.  Kudos to them for getting the message out.

The community is a powerful group and it appears they have made an impact.  Recent rumours indicate that there is now tension in the relationship between Rogers and Apple.  Furthermore, Apple may be possibly diverting a share of our iPhone 3G shipment to Europe in response to the Rogers backlash over the plans.

Rogers is off to a horrible start leading up to their iPhone 3G launch.  They had better alter their plans to offer more value and if not, I hope they land flat on their faces.  If Rogers fails miserably at this, which is looking more likely to happen everyday, then I hope Apple terminates their agreement with Rogers.  They can then offer the next iteration of the iPhone to the new GSM carrier entering Canada in the coming years.

I’ve had my first gen iPhone for a few months now and have enjoyed every little bit of it.  I don’t give a shit about losing its exclusive status here in Canada, but I’m more interested in it becoming more widely available and accessible.  I would want to get one for my parents so they make use of the GPS features, my brother for the music/videos, and my sister for the.. uhh.. games and web browser.  I’ve found it pretty convenient at times to shoot out a quick email, browse the web, or even play around with some fun apps (Twinkle!).  Overall, Rogers had the perfect opportunity to win over fans as they are the only GSM carrier in Canada.  All they had to do was offer a little more value in their voice/data plans (how about dropping that system access fee for a start?).  Well, we’re going to have to wait and see what happens.  Maybe this was all a very late April Fool’s joke and they will indeed be offering unlimited data…  nah, I’m just dreaming.. haha!  In the mean time, and all together now, repeat after me… f*ck you Rogers.