Apple's Radical Roller Coaster Ride

For Apple, the month of October will be one to remember, and one to forget. It's been a radical roller coaster ride for the Cupertino, California-based company to say the least, with the highest of highs and lowest of lows in the span of less than three weeks.

Apple reported earnings on Tuesday, for instance, and while the numbers might have been blockbuster for any other company, with fourth-quarter profit up 54 percent to $6.6 billion, the company posted a rare miss against forecasts for income and revenue. As a result, Apple's stock is down nearly $20 on the trading day.

The earnings miss, attributed to slower iPhone sales as customers apparently eased off new purchases amid rumors Apple would soon release a new iPhone, comes amid the up-and-down frenzy of the company's iPhone 4S launch. By all practical purposes, Apple's new iPhone 4S launch has been a success, as the new smartphone is off to a record-setting start with four million sold in the first week.

But that high has been muted in recent days by reports from some customers complaining about product glitches. Some iPhone 4S buyers have already complained that they've experienced screen quality issues. Reports posted to Apple's discussion forums come from users who claim their iPhone 4S screen is washed out in terms of clarity or displaying a yellowish tint on the screen.

Additionally, Siri, the voice-activated personal assistant that's the most notable new feature of Apple's iPhone 4S, has apparently been so popular that some users have claimed on Twitter and Apple discussion forums that they are having connection problems.

Apple may have sold 4 mil iPhone 4S's, but I think they may need some extra servers for Siri. Getting constant 'unable to connect' errors, Tweeted Thebrowncoat on Twitter.

Such problems mimic the week before, when Apple released 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. With millions of customers worldwide, demand for Apple's iOS 5 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 they wanted it, 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 wasn't so easy.

Apple's roller coaster ride continued as many users found they couldn't can't get the download from Apple to work, even after multiple attempts. They get system errors, and have to start over multiple times or give up to try later.

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 was rather simple, as much like Apple's Siri issues, demand was simply more than Apple's system was prepared for, leading to multiple system errors. It was yet another bittersweet moment of the highs and lows which have flavored Apple in it's busy month of October.

On October 4, for instance, 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, as Apple takes part in a company-wide celebration of Jobs' life today.

But even Apple can survive if not thrive without its co-founder and long-time CEO. By the time Apple put its iPhone 4S up for sale, after the Let's talk iPhone event and Jobs' death, four million units were sold in the first week -- a record. Seems it is okay that the iPhone 5 isn't out yet, as Apple showed it still has that iTouch.

But Apple also revealed in this radical roller coaster month of highs and lows that even in the highest flying of times that scale weighing good and bad seems to find its balance. Even Apple hasn't yet figured out how to avoid that reality.