* The AP needs a babysitter in its Chicago office. To wit…

Illinois’ marketplace is called Get Covered Illinois. It was experiencing some glitches Tuesday. People trying to enroll we’re having problems with the website, and some reported waits of 20 minutes or more on a hotline set up to assist consumers.

Quinn says glitches are part of any new endeavor.

Actually, those were problems with the national website, as reported by the Tribune and others today, not with the state site.

The error rate at that Chicago AP office is getting really high and I’ve been meaning to write about it, so now’s a good time to start. They did change the copy, although without admitting the original mistake…

But the federal website where people enroll was experiencing some glitches. Consumers couldn’t get beyond initial screens, and some reported waits of 20 minutes on a hotline set up to assist them.

Quinn says glitches are part of any new endeavor.

Sheesh.

* There was one problem with the Illinois site…

At least one of the questions — “Including everyone that you live with, how much money do you get each month from the sources you selected before taxes” — did not list an actual dollar amount under choices “less than” or “more than.”

I saw that as well today and it puzzled me, especially since that question had a lot to do with whether you were then directed to the state’s Medicaid site or the federal Obamacare site.

Anyone else having problems with either the state or federal sites today?

…Adding… The media hype about overloaded websites is a bit puzzling to me.

When people stand in line for hours to buy an iPhone that is out of stock by the time they get to the front of the line it’s evidence of Apple’s amazing popularity.

When it takes forever to download a new iPhone operating system, it’s because Apple is so darned popular.

These are first-day glitches. If the problem persists, then it’s an issue.