iOS7 Downloads Being Blamed for WiFi Network Crashes

There was that rumor - possibly apocryphal - about a college prank in which students simultaneously flushed every toilet on some campus and blew out the entire water system for miles around.

So, back here in real life, imagine every human being with an iPhone attempting to simultaneously download the new iOS7 operating system? Uh-huh, you get the picture.

Reports are surfacing that with colleges and universities back in session for the fall semester, these iOS-heavy concentrations of tech afficionados are suffering Wifi system outages due to the mania surrounding the availability of the new operating system. Apple itself is reporting 'isolated incidents.'

A few years back, these same academic communities reported system crashes when students returned and were trading illegal downloads of movies and music. Now, however, it's the desire to be first in your 'hood to have the new iOS7, even if you will never use more than 10% of its capabilities and can not even explain why it is any different from the last one.

No one should blame this on Apple. The lines - and reports of fights in lines as people wait for the new iPhone 5S - make it abundantly clear that it still has what marketing geeks call brand equity. But there is a lesson here about human behavior, the desire for immediate gratification, the need for recognition, the fear of being left behind and the lemming-like nature of our allegedly superior species. JL

Tyler Kingcade reports in the Huffington Post:

College students are pretty sure their peers all downloading the new operating system for iPhones caused their campus WiFi to crash

The Post, an Ohio University student newspaper, reported that the school asked students not to update their iPhones in a campuswide email.
"On the odd chance that this is related to the iOS 7 update release, please consider waiting to download your copy until the current issues are resolved," wrote Sean O'Malley, OU’s Information Technology communications manager.
Allen R. Taylor, the chief technology officer at Marshall University in W.V., told the Parthenon student newspaper that their Internet usage went through the roof after the iOS 7 release.
"The suspicion is that it is principally these downloads of iOS 7," Taylor said. "These kinds of things happen all the time when large releases occur, such as Windows or Mac OS."
Students were frustrated at Abilene Christian University in Texas, which school director of networking service Arthur Brant blamed on the iOS update.
Business Insider noticed a few students tweeting about it at schools like New York University and Western Connecticut State University:

Apple had problems too, as Apple Insider noted, the company sent out a "high priority alert" to employees warning about server issues preventing iPhone customers from updating to the new operating system.
The Post, an Ohio University student newspaper, reported that the school asked students not to update their iPhones in a campuswide email.
"On the odd chance that this is related to the iOS 7 update release, please consider waiting to download your copy until the current issues are resolved," wrote Sean O'Malley, OU’s Information Technology communications manager.
Allen R. Taylor, the chief technology officer at Marshall University in W.V., told the Parthenon student newspaper that their Internet usage went through the roof after the iOS 7 release.
"The suspicion is that it is principally these downloads of iOS 7," Taylor said. "These kinds of things happen all the time when large releases occur, such as Windows or Mac OS."
Students were frustrated at Abilene Christian University in Texas, which school director of networking service Arthur Brant blamed on the iOS update.
Business Insider noticed a few students tweeting about it at schools like New York University and Western Connecticut State University:

Apple had problems too, as Apple Insider noted, the company sent out a "high priority alert" to employees warning about server issues preventing iPhone customers from updating to the new operating system.

Apple had problems too, as Apple Insider noted, the company sent out a "high priority alert" to employees warning about server issues preventing iPhone customers from updating to the new operating system.