I picked mine up last Sunday in the Omaha Nebraska Apple Store. Just walked in and requested one from the back service counter. No line. No hassle. Activated it at the bar at OMA waiting for my UA flight to DEN. Took about 2 minutes. I am already an AT&T customer, so the switch was effortless - even though my corporate discount had to be removed (and I was so advised during activation).

Completely delighted with it - but agree that
1) Ring tones are not loud enough
2) Initial typing is tricky, but just trust the keyboard and auto-correct features. Within 4 days my accuracy was WAY up.
3) Would like a little more battery life (I recharge nightly) but I admit I have mine set to check email every 15 minutes and run on WiFi at home.

Currently I have 6 email accounts syncd to it and they perform flawlessly. Video playback is excellent. People cannot belive how clear YouTube is.

Mark