If our sources are on the up and up (no offense to anyone... this is the internet, and a great man once said "Everybody Lies") and THEIR sources are on the up and up, then VZW is dragging their heels here. They are letting HTC advertise the phone, just like they let Best Buy do it before them.
Let's assume that we're playing that old "telephone" game here... BMX, Miami, HookBill, Sentrix... they are all relaying information. Let's also assume that just a LITTLE gets lost in translation. Add in other people from other sites, and we have 2/24 as the date this phone was ready to go, even assuming that some things were lost in translation. They were apparently sitting on US soil at that point, just waiting to be distributed.
If that's the case, and I think it's more than plausible, given the amount of tips we've gotten from historically reliable sources... then Verizon looks VERY bad here. Whether they are trying to clear more inventory with the sale they had or they are wringing their hands over the iPad 2, this all reeks of a "seat of the pants" management style that seems to have trouble seeing past the current day. I've said before that VZW apparently has no plan here, and I've been flamed. The more we hear, the more that seems to be the case.
In the process, they have some of us questioning the legitimacy of people we have come to trust for information.
VZW is either incredibly stupid, or incredibly clever. Take your pick...
Standard disclaimer: We are all well aware that Verizon never said anything other than "Q1" No need to remind us. While that's entirely true, it doesn't mean that things haven't gone on behind the scenes. As many of the same people state... Verizon isn't going to tell us EVERYTHING.
The delay has Apple's stink all over it. There just isn't any other reason for the delay. The phone is fine, the network is fine, probably need an OTA update or two shortly after activation, and it's ready to roll!
Was surprising but hey good to see the Eris still getting support..