Apple iOS 5 Release Download: The Best of Times, The Worst of Times

Today is the day for the Apple release download of its new iOS 5 operating system for mobile devices. With some 200 new features, it was eagerly awaited to say the least by owners of Apple's bestselling iPhone, iPad and iTouch. But for Apple in the past eight days, it has been the best of times and the worst of times.

Today was no different as demand was high, but downloading for many has been extremely difficult, requiring multiple frustrating attempts.

It's typical of a whirlwind of activity the past week and a day amid highs and lows of emotion for the company and Apple fans and users.

On October 4, the company held it's anticipated Let's talk iPhone event, unveiling its new iPhone 4S. Many were disappointed around the world, however, when Apple didn't unveil a new iPhone 5 -- which many thought was coming.

But by the time the iPhone 4S was broken down, most observers were pleased with the product after all -- especially for its new voice Assistant capabilities, a better camera, more memory, and more.

The next day, however, Apple co-founder and long-time CEO Steve Jobs died after a long bout with cancer. Apple employees, tech world observers, and Apple product fans throughout the world mourned extensively. Many still are, in fact.

Then Apple put its iPhone 4S up for sale through pre-orders.

BOOM!

Apple showed it still had some muscle, as the iPhone 4S, despite the fact that it's not an iPhone 5 with a bigger screen, took off -- breaking sales records of the iPhone 4 before its even hit stores. Seems Apple hasn't lost its iTouch after all.

Days later all eyes were pointing to today -- the launch of Apple's new iOS 5 operating system. Demand was high, to say the least. The iPhone is the world's most popular smartphone. The iPad is the world's most popular tablet. Owners of all are able to download Apple's new iOS 5 system for free -- and you know they wanted it.

And they did, piling online by the tens of thousands at once today when Apple released the free download at apple.com. But while the new system is a nice upgrade of its previous operating system for mobile devices with new features, including iCloud capabilities that eliminates a physical connection for sharing data between an owner's devices, getting it today hasn't been so easy.

Apple's roller coaster ride over the past week and a day continues as the company is now struggling with meeting the demands from all who want to download the new iOS 5 system. By Wednesday evening, after a 1 p.m. Eastern Time release, many users are finding they can't get the download from Apple to work, even after multiple attempts. They get system errors, and have to start over or give up.

Apple hasn't yet acknowledged the problem, but many Apple device owners are lighting up social media networks including Twitter and Facebook with reports that multiple attempts to download Apple's iOS 5 system have been unsuccessful. Also, a discussion forum at apple.com is filled with customer feedback from those saying they have been greeted by system errors when trying to download iOS 5.

Some have had success, but only after many attempts, while others have not yet gotten iOS 5 despite trying.

its the only thing to do, retry, retry, retry...Worked here too after 30 times or more, said one Apple customer.

If you're having problems updating your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch to iOS 5, you're not alone. We're getting reports across the board that many are having issues updating to the latest version of Apple's iOS software, released today, wrote thenextweb.com.

The problem seems rather simple -- more demand than Apple's system was prepared for leading to multiple system errors.

The main problem is due to Apple's servers being overwhelmed by the number of requests being made at the same time, said Cult of Mac. Apparently some users are reporting successful updates while others are not, but only after trying 10 or more times.

Most tech experts were advising Apple mobile device users late Wednesday to hang in there, and keep trying, or simply to come back later. They say the upgrade will be worth it and they expect the system errors to subside once initial demand subsides. But in the meantime, the iOS 5 download glitch is just another of the major ups and downs Apple and its devoted customers have experienced together in the past eight days.