After 30 minutes on hold with the iPhone Activation Line (877-800-3701), which beats the 60 minutes they predicted, my initial iPhone activation attempt has been cancelled. It only took 53 hours to get this far.

The woman on the phone, who sounded exhausted, was reluctant to cancel the request, but once learning it was possible I insisted. Based on everything else I’ve done with technology, this mess was well past the point of needing a reboot.

Einstein’s definition of insanity:

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

The full story is that I called the standard AT&T service number, (877-419-4500) and finally got someone who could tell me what was going on. The higher-ups must have finally given them something to work with. My account had been flagged as “needs more info” and I would have to call another number to follow up. The other number was the iPhone Activation Line, which she transferred me to.

Engadget’s iPhone activation poll shows just under 50% had a smooth activation. Nearly 40% were also locked out of doing anything with their phones.

Thanks to the equally suffering Charles Gordon at CrazyGadgetGuru.com for the link.

I’m pressing publish on this post and re-starting my activation. Deep breath…

An hour later… Yeah, as if. So the port hasn’t cancelled yet, or something. Whatever it is, iTunes can’t activate me. My Verizon phone still works, sort of. I can call but incoming calls go straight to voicemail, SMS still works both ways. iPhone’s still a brick. Silly me for getting hopeful.