iPhone Canada-bound in September?
OK, take this with a grain of salt, but this is a true story.
My mother in-law, who lives in Texas, is coming up to visit next week, and she asked my wife if she could bring anything as a gift for me. My wife, being the dutiful little Apple fan that she is, jokingly responded that her mother could bring us both an iPhone if she wants. My wife proceeded to try to talk her mother out of trying to get us iPhones because of how expensive they are, how impossible it will be to get one in the first few days and the likelihood that it wouldn’t work in Canada anyway.
They ended the call and my wife thought nothing more of it.
A little while later, my mother in-law calls back to say she had telephoned Apple in Cupertino and spoke to a very nice lady in customer service who explained that the iPhone was only initially being launched in the U.S. and was exclusive to the AT&T network, but that Apple was planning on launching in Canada in September on the Rogers network. Now last I remember, Apple has not made any statements specific to when the iPhone would be available in Canada, and neither has Rogers. It’s important to point out that my mother in-law is neither an Apple fan, or an iPod or Mac user. She didn’t even know what the iPhone was until my wife told her about it today.
If this turns out to be true, then my mother in-law may have just gotten the scoop first on what is sure to be the biggest Canadian consumer electronics story of the year. A scoop that is yet to be reported by any of the typical Apple blogs and rumor sites, nor the mainstream press. Maybe all these years Apple has trained it’s staff how to avoid being tricked into spilling the beans on company secrets from conventional geek journalists and paparazzi, but have failed to anticipate the threat from unassuming grandmothers. Who knows. If my mother in-law ever gets tired of nursing, I think she has a shot as an investigative technology journalist!
I certainly hope this rumor is true, because I think 3 months is about as long as I’m willing to wait for the iPhone before I break down, get one from the U.S. and spend whatever amount of time and money is necessary to get it unlocked to work in Canada. Â Now lets just hope when the iPhone does come to Rogers, that it brings those affordable unlimited data packages with it. Hey, a guy can dream, can’t he?
9 comments June 27th, 2007