7:57am
I’m on line.
I woke-up at about 6am. Suffice to say, I was having trouble sleeping. I decided to get up about 7:15, shower and get my stuff together, have a large breakfast at First Watch and then head to Easton to scope out the situation.
Well, I was just about ready to go when I picked up phone and noticed the text message from Dave. “3:48am – I just stood in line for 5 minutes!” What? 3:48AM? Shit. It’s started.
I decided I would go to Easton first, scope things out, then get breakfast if it seemed like an okay thing to do.
Well …. I’m kind of anal retentive, and I’m totally obsessed with the Jesusphone right about now. So when I drove by the Apple Store and saw that there were already 45 people in line, and they were already in the process of putting up long lines of barricades … you know how this ends.
Chairs. That’s the first thing I noticed about the others in line. All these other people thought to bring chairs. Why didn’t I think of that? I guess I was in too much of a hurry. Alas and alack.
8:15am
Time in line: 18 minutes
So, another guy is in line after me, giving me some comfort He didn’t bring a chair, either. He did bring a Dell (WTF?!?) and a huge book of CDs and a knock-off iPod. Maybe this is just the device he was waiting for. Finally a reason to get a real iPod. Finally a reason to switch, and he’s determined to do it.
The first person in line is a hugely obese woman dressed all in white. She’s sitting on a cushion and rocking. Like the guy in NYC, she’s the opposite of the person Apple wants the world to see as their biggest fans. Actually, I’m surprised by the diversity here. It kind of looks like a Gap ad. There are some women, there are a few Asian people, a few black people, there are even some older-middle-aged people.
The Asian guy next to me asked how many iPhones there will be. I gave him the 90-500 rundown. I’m surprised. IF you were gonna wait in ine for this, wouldn’t you do a little research? Hmmm… He does have a chair, though, so I shouldn’t cricize too much.
8:18am
It’s looking like rain. Someone from the Easton management brought a few umbrellas by, just a few, like 10. Most people have umbrellas. I thought mine was in the car, but I think I left it at Mom and Dad’s place. Anyway, one guy took it upon himself to distribute the umbrellas to those of us who don’t have them. Then one of the security guards (who have been here since midnight) offered to go fetch more.
So, one of the two ver-bearded gentlemen ahead of me just asked if I needed anything. That’s nice. He’s definitely gay. More diversity. Yay.
Another dude in line. Chair. Fucker.
Someone from COSI brought food by for breakfast. “How nice,” I thought. But, it starts at $2 for a bagel. Duh. We can’t afford that shit. We’re waiting to buy an iPhone. Okay, by back already hurts. I need a chair.
8:21am
Another dude. Old, white hair, white skin. Chair. FAT belt clipped phone. Dude needs the iphone. Down the line, they’re carrying out the welcoming that I started. Cool.
8:24am
3 more dudes. 2 more chairs. The new guy looks like he’s ready for a day at the beach.
My back is already killing me. Too much waiting tables this week.
9:06am
Time in line: 1 hour 9 minutes
I’m feeling better. I stretched, did some reading, and I went to Cosi for some breakfast and coffee. Much better. Don’t you hate it when you’re too tired even to read. That’s where I was at before food and coffee.
It’s a VERY casual line here. People are taking trips over to McDonald’s and such, a couple of guys are throwing a football outside th Apple store. No worries. We all just feel food cause we’re pretty darned sure we’re getting a sweet phone today.
At Cosi, I met the two most pissed-off guys at Easton right now, the Asst. Managers of the Sprint store. Ouch. You know they have sweet Sprint phones, and you know they’re probably not allowed to buy an iPhone. That’s gotta create some horrible inned dissoonance for them. There ere definitely talking some smack about the iPhone when I was near the at Cosi, something about customer loyalty. Poor, poor fools.
At some point as I was typing, the Muzak came on at Easton. Ugh. That’s gonna get annoying.
The weather is currently over-cast, maybe even a little too cool for how I’m dressed. But, I’m sure it’ll warm-up later.
Who should I call first on my iPhone? Maybe I should auction of the first-call rights.
I’ve been trying to pick-up some wireless internet. The signal from the Apple Store’s network is strong (and open) but I think I’m not quite close enough. Maybe I’ll take a walk down there a little later.
9:14am
HEY! I’m online! Thanks Apple Store!
11:51am
Time in Line: Not quite 4 hours.
Channel 6 is here, they’re interviewing people in line and shooting b-roll. I may be on the news talking to my friend Chet, who works as a valet here.
Dave’s gonna come relieve me a in a couple of hours. That’s nice, that’ll make things easier. Now we just gotta figure out how to buy both. Anyway …
The dude next to me smells pretty bad.
I called Topher. He’s already in line at the Cingular store o Sawmill road. There are like 25 people in line there. Wow. I wonder if all AT&T stores have lines like that. Pretty impressive, really. I have to admit, though, I’m really digging the fact that I get to buy it at the Apple Store itself.
I hope they put some accessories on-sale tonight too. I really want that Jawbone headset, and the Giffin case.
The line’s only up to about 50 people now. I really thought it’d be longer than this now. Oh well. I got a great spot and I can finally relax and stop worrying hether or not I’d get one today. And I did Dave a bit of a favpr. That rocks too.
I’ll be curious to see the people they put on TV tonight. That rather large lady at the front will probably convince a few people not to buy one.
The giant i{hone in the window of the Apple Store is pretty awesome. I’d like to have one of those.
This is really a pretty easy wait. The weather is perfect for it. The sun’s not even out yet. I’m really thankful for that. And I’ll be tthe rain last night kept some people away, and that’s a blessing too.
The rumors are flying. Somewhere on-line it says that each Apple Store is getting 1500 phones a piece. That’d be kind of crazy.
I wonder if we’ll see the phones arrive. Supposedly, they’re going to arrive by FedEx under armed gaurd at 4pm. It’ll be quite a sight if they go in through the front door. Nice bit of show, too.
Also, part of an email I sent to MacWorld got posted.
2:04pm
I’m officially on break. Yes, I know it’s cheating, but I’m really glad. I’m going to give Dave about 2 hours in line by himself, then I’ll join him for the last 2. Things will probably be a bit more exciting during that time.
So, I’m gonna eat some pizza and browse all the new iPhone stuff on Apple’s website.