Via Dave Winer, we find out what happens when the masters of PR partner with the epitomy of customer ignorage:

Steve Rubel is one of the 38 percent. And since he cancelled his Verizon account, he no longer has a cell phone. Not a good situation for a guy like Steve. He's in PR. (Steve writes: "I actually have a backup phone from Edelman but it's my personal phone that was cancelled.")

Thomas Hawk's iPhone isn't working yet either. He describes waiting on hold endlessly with AT&T. Like Steve, his first memory of iPhone is going to be a wasted weekend trying to get started.

I have no idea whether 38 percent is an accurate number of people who can't activate, but it almost doesn't matter - the meme is out there. Maybe Apple should have found a partner that could spell customer service.

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