So the iPhone 3G launched yesterday, with some, oh, minor software and activation problems...

Some lucky folks seem to have had no issues at all. "Our own experience at the Apple store this morning was perfectly pleasant," writes ReadWriteWeb's Frederic Lardinois. "Apple only allowed about 20 people at a time into the store and kept the rest of us hydrated and fed with water, coffee, and doughnuts. Once inside, processing the phone upgrade and activating the phone took less than 15 minutes."

But according to PC World's Tom Spring, while the problems seem to have been resolved within 24 hours of the launch, "the past 24 hours was a disaster not only for its customers but the Apple brand, which is known for being customer oriented and for its technical excellence."

Spring's declaration strikes me as a bit melodramatic - I've been very much looking forward to getting a new iPhone, but I knew it would be wise to wait at least a week or two before buying it: this was arguably the most eagerly anticipated smartphone ever, so anyone who didn't expect that there might be some issues in the first 24 hours, methinks, was being just a LITTLE overly optimistic...

More here from MacNN ... more here from D&P ... more here from Reuters ... more here from geeksugar ... more here from CNET News ... and more here from Scobleizer.