Not being in an absolute rush to get an iPhone 3GS, I opted to simply order one from Apple's online store after I got confirmation that I could upgrade without paying an early termination or conversion ransom to AT&T. The order was officially placed on June 23rd for the black 16GB version.

Why not 32GB? Well, largely because I don't use my white 3G to store video content, and I can certainly fit the relevant portion of my music library within 16GB, so I opted to save my money. Besides, I'll probably end up upgrading again next year, assuming AT&T allows it.

When I placed the order, I was quoted a shipping delay of two to four business days. But on June 25th, I get a strange email stating: "Our records indicate that we were unable to obtain approval from AT&T to complete your recent iPhone purchase. As a result, we have canceled your iPhone order."

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Although the crowds weren't quite as large this weekend, it does seem as if hundreds of thousands of new iPhones were sold. AT&T along claims several hundred thousand preorders, and there were unknown numbers from Apple before the 3G S was released on Friday. By Sunday, however, the truth was out there. Steve Jobs himself, still Apple's CEO, reported over one million units sold, way ahead of analyst estimates.

This time, Apple and its wireless carrier partners acted in an intelligent fashion. By taking preorders, they didn't force customers to wait hours in front of the store in the hope they wouldn't be too late to get a spanking new iPhone 3G S.

For the most part, the activation issues that plagued customers last year didn't occur, although there were some instances where the final activation process seemed to take far longer than it should. However, the complaints shouldn't be near as voluminous.

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They say that first impressions are often the most important, and that a product that doesn’t grab you right away may be doomed to failure.

Now after a decently-long gestation period, the latest version of Microsoft Internet Explorer, version 8, is now available for download. Forgetting preliminary reports about its performance potential — or lack thereof — I decided to give it a fair shake, download a copy and try it out.

Well, typical of Microsoft’s products, this was not so easy a process. Let me explain, and don’t miss the contrast where an installation scenario is handled properly.

You see, when I first launched my Vista installation, which comes courtesy of a Parallels Desktop virtual machine, I got a familiar notice, but not from Microsoft. Instead, if was the Windows version of Apple’s Software Update, informing me about the recent updates to iTunes and QuickTime.

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Perhaps it's the Virgo in me, but I resent hearing incorrect information, and I don't like it when I make a mistake either. Thanks to the Internet, though, I can fix errors on my sites in a jiffy. I wish others were as devoted to accuracy.

So I occasionally write a commentary that corrects common misconceptions, particularly in the Mac universe. It's not that it really makes much of a difference, I suppose, since the folks who continue to repeat the falsehoods seem to otherwise go essentially unchallenged.

But I'm going to persevere, since even changing a few minds -- even one -- ought to represent progress. Maybe those alleged pundits might even try something new, which is to do a little research before they repeat the same old nonsense by rote.

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