Who thought that Apple’s (AAPL) iTunes operations would screw up the launch of the 3G iPhone? Nobody. That’s who.

But, it turnsout that to activate the iPhone, part of the process must be done through servers which host the iTunes service. Once the process would not work in the store, new buyers tried the process from work or home. No luck. According to the AP, "the iTunes servers were equally hard to reach from home, leaving the phones unusable except for emergency calls."

No wonder so many people use RIM (RIMM) Blackberry smartphones. At least they work most of the time.

Douglas A. McIntyre