[Geobunny]

Has anyone managed to get hold of one of these things in the UK (Scotland in particular) yet? They were supposed to be available on Friday 28th September, but I can't find a single shop in Edinburgh that has any. Everyone says that must've got lost in transit as they never arrived. No-one knows where they are or when they're expecting to get them.

[iampivot]

I saw them in the Apple shop in Regent Street yesterday (29th), so they're definitely in London now.

[Duracell]

I picked one up at the launch on Sunday, (London) they ran out of 16gb ones while I was there. (still got one though!) There was also some left on Sunday, like the guy above me said!

[veryvulgar]

Well, I am just subscribing to the daily stock updates at iPod Touch Price Comparison | iPod Touch Stock Availability | iPod Touch Stock

It's basically a service that compares prices for UK and US retailers and also lets you know which ones are in stock. At the moment there seem to be 2.

[maxwide]

No joy for me so far. Bluewater had none yesterday, ditto Birmingham. I spoke to John Lewis who had a few 8gb's in early, and they said they were expecting a delivery of 39000 to their central warehouse but none had come.

BTW ipodtouch locator is a total wind up. Every time I have followed an in-stock thread it's turned out not to be true. Argos will take your order and half way through read out a statement that basically amounts to we-take-your-money-now-and-e-mail-you-when-we-get-one.

Not for the first time, Apple should be slapped for this. The US store is showing next day despatch and we're grubbing around chasing ghosts.

And now for the next wind-up: iPhone arrives on November 9th. Yeah right. Hope I get one of the ten they ship.

[nickharm]

Guys, guys this is standard marketing practice. Hold back stock until you get a few press/pr stories of the 'I queued all night for an iPod touch' , or 'Man pays £1000 to beat queues for iPod touch'. 'Fight breaks out in Regent St over fresh stock of iPod touches' etc'

As soon as Apple think they have got enough publicity they will release stocks and all will be normal. You don't seriously think they only made a small quantity do you? The floodgates will open when they are ready.

[maxwide]

Got a 16gb this morning from MacWarehouse, they showed over a hundred in stock, went back half an hour later...all gone

I'm happy but many more are still sad.

[nickharm]

Originally Posted by maxwide 

Got a 16gb this morning from MacWarehouse, they showed over a hundred in stock, went back half an hour later...all gone

I'm happy but many more are still sad.

Apple are happy, this sort of PR is worth thousands of pounds and costs them no more than the price of annoying those people who simply must have the latest thing or die of shame. Of course the fact that these early adopters are also going to be unpaid bug testers cheers them up as well! It's win win for Apple.

[Geobunny]

Originally Posted by nickharm 

... and costs them no more than the price of annoying those people who simply must have the latest thing or die of shame.

It's not so much dying of shame I want to avoid, it more a case of trying to avoid dying of boredom on a 4 hour flight (in fact, I'd quite like to avoid dying of anything, but that's beside the point!). I've actually got one on order from the Applestore Online but it's not due to arrive until after I leave for my holiday

[nickharm]

Yes i have the same problem although my flight is shorter. Of course the other ipod videos are pretty good and do avoid the danger of being a test gimp for Apple. They just arent the touch though are they. My friend's Zen (I think) that I looked at last night seemed a pretty strong contender for useful portable video too. I may well do without the touch for now and wait for a mate to bring me one back from the USA in a few weeks, be a bit cheaper too which always helps.

4hr flight? on 16GB you wouldn't be able to load up all that much video anyway unless you did without music.

[Geobunny]

Originally Posted by nickharm 

4hr flight? on 16GB you wouldn't be able to load up all that much video anyway unless you did without music.

Depending on how much space the OS takes up and how much of a lie the 16GB claim is (I really wish HD manufacturers would stop claiming that 1GB == 1000MB ), I think I'll be OK. My music library is 12GB* and I figure 300MB per hour for video adds another 1.2GB but there's about half an hour where I won't be using it (during take off & landing) and I love flying anyway so it'll take me a wee while to get bored in the first place, so I should manage it.

However, it's all pretty academic as it almost certainly won't arrive in time!

* Could be 9 or 10 if I throw out some dross that I never listen to any more.

[nickharm]

yes, I am debating whether to waste my saturday trying to track one down or just wait .... those zens look very tempting even if they arent as glamorous

n

[veryvulgar]

You can check availability in the UK at this website:

iPod Touch Price Comparison | iPod Touch Stock Availability | iPod Touch Stock.


Currently says 3 in stock, updated less than 15 minutes ago.

[maxwide]

So, MacWarehouse shows they are in stock. Feverishly I order one and get an email confirmation, reference number and invoice. I am in LOndon for the day. I ring home. Any parcel? No. I ring MacWarehouse "very sorry they shouldn't have been described as in stock. The whole batch went on pre-orders, so yours was never allocated" Thanks a bunch, nice of you to tell me. I had cancelled an Apple Store order and ignored an email from Cancom for this.

To those who keep recommending the iPodtouch locator website, I repeat it is rubbish. Comet currently shows in stock, I ring, "we don't have any" Argos shows in-stock; it's a pre-order. Now if they were trawling the Apple stores and reporting that, it would be a service. Right now its a waste of time.

Back to the drawing board

[BRussell]

I ordered one from the Apple online store.de a few days ago, and it's now shipping and set to arrive in a few days. The Apple online store often ships earlier than it initially said it would.

[nickharm]

Ah well the apple store uk says about 2 weeks to shipping if I order today.

Bugger it, I'll get one brought back from USA by a mate, same time to wait but a few quid saved

n

[Gee4orce]

I was unable to find one in birmingham yesterday - the Apple store had demo units (which people were waiting in line to play with), but cruelly none you could actually buy. The staff said that they get a delivery every day but they don't know what's going to be on it, and it seems as if the Touches are sold out immediately.

None of the other retailers had one - Argos had a 'coming soon', Comet was out of stock, and Currys had an empty display space so presumably they had had some but sold out.

Demand for this thing is off the charts - don't forget that we haven't got the iPhone here yet, so the Touch is the first chance we've had to play with this technology. I had a 10 minute play and I was blown away - it's amazing. That said, I think I'll wait for the iPhone now.

[nickharm]

Apple's deliberate policy of keeping us short is maddening. No way would their planners have said 'it's not going to be all that popular, just make a few'.

The iPhone I can live without. The contracts look vicious and expensive and I am going retro with phones, I now use a small phone with no more features than text and not even colour. Who needs all that stuff? Touch screens are hard to use with just one hand when driving, walking etc and the screens get badly affected by bright sunshine - phones need to be practical above all. The iPhone is a lot of gadget in one place, a lot to lose too.

N

[Geobunny]

Woohoo, my order has been dispatched from the Applestore online and is estimated to arrive a day or two before I leave - looks like I might just be in luck. Fingers crossed...

That means I can now cancel the reserve-as-soon-as-it-comes-in that I've got at 3 high street shops here! I actually wonder if that's exactly what Apple's game is: give a very small number to authorised retailers which is not quite enough to satisfy demand, meaning people put a reserve on one in physical stores (thereby increasing perceived demand) and order one online direct from Apple to see which comes first. The price at authorised resellers is the same as direct from Apple, so Apple must be making more money off direct sales.

...or am I just being unduly cynical?

[BRussell]

Originally Posted by nickharm 

Apple's deliberate policy of keeping us short is maddening.

That's ridiculous. There's no way they're deliberately preventing people from buying these things. There's always a ramp-up delay for a new product. In a few weeks, there will be no problem finding them, but right now there's going to be a waiting list.

[no shoes]

Last weekend I tried to buy one in Glasgow but was told they all sold out within an hour. I ended up ordering through the Apple Store and was told it would ship by Oct. 16. It's showing as shipped now (Oct 3) with an estimated delivery date of Oct 11.

Seems like they're in pretty hot demand.

Edit: Forgot to add, but it's shipping from China.

[maxwide]

Try John Lewis! Like now.

[Geobunny]

Noooo! It's now showing as "shipment delayed" when I go to my Apple Order Status page and TNT is showing as "please phone". I'm at work just now so can't phone to find out what it means, and now John Lewis have them in stock but my Apple Store order has shipped so I can't even buy there and cancel the online order! I think I'm going to cry

Originally Posted by no shoes 

Last weekend I tried to buy one in Glasgow but was told they all sold out within an hour. I ended up ordering through the Apple Store and was told it would ship by Oct. 16. It's showing as shipped now (Oct 3) with an estimated delivery date of Oct 11.

That's the same estimated delivery date as mine is still showing (despite being delayed), so I suspect they're both part of the same shipment. You might want to check if yours is delayed as well...

[BRussell]

Mine has also been Shanghai-ed.

[no shoes]

Geobunny - Damn, that doesn't sound too good. Mine's still showing as in transit. Have you been to the TNT web tracker? There's a link to international tracking on the UK tracking page.

I was thinking of buying in Jown Lewis now as the other poster mentioned they had them. I had a wee read of Apple's t&cs and it says you can cancel an order up to the point of delivery, so I'm thinking this might mean you could buy it elsewhere then cancel? Is that right?

[no shoes]

Originally Posted by BRussell 

Mine has also been Shanghai-ed.

Mine was showing shipped from Suzhou for 4 days, just had a look at TNT's page and now says it's in Amsterdam, looks like it might be on target.

[Geobunny]

You cannot be effing serious!

Originally Posted by TNT international tracker

07 Oct 2007; Pudong International Airport; Delayed Export Due To Customs Inspection

[no shoes]

Originally Posted by Geobunny 

You cannot be effing serious!

Sux! I'd try the stores in Edinburgh, see if they have anything.

[ajprice]

I went into my local PC World on Saturday, they had nanos and classics on the display, they were working ones with the security cable to the stand (so I had a go, the 160Gb classic seems maybe a bit thinner than my 40Gb 4G, but I couldn't be sure. Liked the nano, but I know what they mean about the interface being slow, there's definitely a delay there but I didn't see if they were 1.0 or 1.0.1 firmware).

The display model for the touch was missing, the price label tickets to take to the till, security cable and attachment were there, but there wasn't an iPod on the end of the cable!

[Gee4orce]

Geo - if your local John Lewis has one in stock (the online store is out) - go buy it, and then sell me whichever one you have spare ! As long as it's a 16Gb of course.

[jbleisure]

I was in John Lewis Bristol earlier. They had some both 8 and 16 gig I think. Man they are neat little pieces of kit!!...................if only there was Calendar input.

[Geobunny]

Originally Posted by Gee4orce 

Geo - if your local John Lewis has one in stock (the online store is out) - go buy it, and then sell me whichever one you have spare ! As long as it's a 16Gb of course.

Well, they did have some earlier (and I was seriously tempted by your offer) but by the time I'd managed to get out of the office at the end of the day, they were sold out. These things are going faster than the proverbial off a shovel!

I've now resigned myself to the fact that it almost certainly won't be here in time and I'll just have to battle on with my 4th gen iPod and take whatever awful TV shows the airline throws at me.

[Gee4orce]

According to a thread over on Macrumors, showing an email reply from none other that Steve Jobs, Calendar input is coming soon.

[Geobunny]

Well, Scotsys just phoned me to say that my 16G iPod Touch has come back into stock and is now reserved for me (SOO glad I didn't cancel that). I can go pick it up whenever I like - that'll be today then

Anyway, for anyone else who's interested, I just phoned Apple Aftersales to see if I'd be able to cancel and what the deal was re my credit card and return delivery etc if I did cancel, and they said that because it's out of their system and TNT have it, they can't stop the order. Best thing I can do is make use of the 14 day grace period to return it after it arrives.....which is now scheduled for the 23rd October! WTF are customs planning to do to the poor wee thing?

[DavoMrMac]

My 16GB touch was a long time coming from Apple (online), but well worth the wait. Gorgeous colour screen, superb sound, well worth the money.

[no shoes]

I just got mine tonight. TNT tried to deliver it but they said they couldn't find the house... Drove down to collect it and been playing with it since! It's quite an amazing piece of gadgetry, quite hard to believe all that tech. in one little gorgeous package.

[phobos]

I can't wait for mine!! Hope I'll receive it tommorrow or friday.
I made the order through Ghc in Uk and it's coming to Greece. But it seems that the parcel is going to make a tour through the whole Europe before coming here...
At the moments it's in Germany.

[Gee4orce]

Anybody actually SEEN one AVAILABLE TO BUY in a high street shop yet, in the UK ?

Just wondering if I should re-order online and play the waiting game - it's sod's law that as soon as I do I'll see one in a shop window....

[BRussell]

Originally Posted by phobos 

I can't wait for mine!! Hope I'll receive it tommorrow or friday.
I made the order through Ghc in Uk and it's coming to Greece. But it seems that the parcel is going to make a tour through the whole Europe before coming here...
At the moments it's in Germany.

Mine went from China to Chile to Czech.

[phobos]

Ha ha that's funny.
Do you remember how many days it took to get to you?

[Geobunny]

Originally Posted by Gee4orce 

Anybody actually SEEN one AVAILABLE TO BUY in a high street shop yet, in the UK ?

Just wondering if I should re-order online and play the waiting game - it's sod's law that as soon as I do I'll see one in a shop window....

Actually, I have now. My order is still being held hostage in Chinese customs for some reason, so I went to Scotsys (high-ish street shop) and forked out the cash for the one which had my name on it. I'll return the online order as soon as it arrives. It's a superb little bit of kit (but for a few flaws which will be the subject of a separate thread) which would definitely have been worth the way had I been able to do so. At least I can now have something decent to watch on the plane

I don't think they had any spare just for folk who walk in off the street though; they all seemed to have been taken up by pre-orders.

[nickharm]

Originally Posted by BRussell 

That's ridiculous. There's no way they're deliberately preventing people from buying these things. There's always a ramp-up delay for a new product. In a few weeks, there will be no problem finding them, but right now there's going to be a waiting list.

Not preventing, simply creating a 'shortage' that is great PR as in "demand for new iPod outstrips supply" etc. You really think they only made a few thousand pre-launch? Don't be so naive. There will be no problem in a few weeks because there will be no further point in creating one.

Watch it happen with the iPhone too.

[nickharm]

Actually I wonder how many people have now bought the 8gb version in desperation as there seem to be more of those available than the 16gb? And will they regret it? I reckon the 8gb will disappear from the product line once all stock is exhausted, it may have an attractive entry level price but it's simply too small capacity even for those of us who don't have 10,000 albums pirated from the internet!

[BRussell]

Originally Posted by phobos 

Ha ha that's funny.
Do you remember how many days it took to get to you?

Ordered Oct. 1, shipped on the 5th, will receive it today (the 11th).

[phobos]

Originally Posted by BRussell 

Ordered Oct. 1, shipped on the 5th, will receive it today (the 11th).

Wow that's a long time!!! And here I am hoping I will get mine today or tomorrow.....

Mine was sent to me on Monday and I was hoping that even on the maximum amount of days they state that it takes for the parcel to come here (4 days) I
would still be able to play with it on friday.

You ruined my day....

[Gee4orce]

well,I'm posting this from my new iPod touch 16gb, which I picked up from ghc in derby. This thing rocks ! I jailbreaked it too - currently quite easy whilst the tiff exploit works. Enabling calendar editing is as simple as adding a line to plist file - I highly recommend you do it. The iPhone apps run great too

[phobos]

same thing here. Received mine from ghc on Friday and also jailbroke it. This thing is amazing. To understand its usefullness you need to install all the iPhone stuff. It's really a palmtop. Amazing

[Gee4orce]

What I don't understand is why Apple wouldn't make this the device is so clearly can be. the way the email, photos, browser and maps applications all integrate is just stunning. I can understand that they don't want to cannibalise iPhone sales, but I would have thought the USP of the iPhone is *the ability to make phone calls* - so why not bundle these apps from the get go ?

[nickharm]

My mate returned from Washington empty handed, seems they are in short supply in USA too.
I'm sort of losing the desire to have one oddly enough. Certainly Im fed up with phoning stores

S

[Gee4orce]

Where are you man ?! I was stood in an Apple seller yesterday and they had a stack of them behind the counter !? (Gordon Harwood, again - give them a call). The desire will be back as soon as you handle one of these beauties, believe me !