June 30, 2007
iPhone Arrives in New York (And Lines Move Fast)
With lines of potential customers snaking around the block, New York's Apple Stores on Fifth Avenue and in SoHo opened their doors at 6PM for the launch of the iPhone, the unbelievably hyped multi-functioning personal accessory.
Overall, the lines moved pretty quickly, as Apple employees just focused their efforts on letting customers buy iPhones and move out. The early customers couldn't use the iPhone demos, though later customers were able to try them out and check the functions. The SoHo store's line reached around the corner of Prince and Greene up to Houston and around the Mercer. Spike Lee arrived to buy an iPhone, as the first people on line at the Soho store were doing it for Keep A Child Alive.
The crowd at the Fifth Avenue store was large, but we think the crowd of media and spectators was bigger. Starbucks was handing out coffee to everyone, as other marketers got into the action (Virgin Atlantic gave away socks, SmartWater gave water). And, as with any line of people waiting for many hours, they made sure no line-cutters got through; only, they were backed up by the added security, some of whom we suspect were off-duty police officers.
With helicopters circling overhead and the NYPD stationed on Fifth Avenue, the excitement reached a fever pitch when Apple employees started getting the line ready. Then cheering began when the doors opened. And when customers left with an iPhone in hand, a receiving line of Apple employees cheered and congratulated them when they left.
While a CBS story is headlined, AT&T Stores Brace For Violent iPhone Shoppers, we have to say, the media was way more violent that the shoppers. In fact, when the first iPhone purchasers emerged from the store, reporters started to grab at them.
Were you able to get it activated? We saw the NY Times' David Pogue outside the store; he wasn't waiting for one, as he's had his for two weeks. He was just as enthusiastic about the iPhone's merits (and just as frustrated with AT&T's network) as he is in his hilarious video about the iPhone.
Did you buy an iPhone? How long did you wait? On tech sites, people are taking apart the iPhone, looking at how to add sim cards, interview Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak (on line in San Francisco) and much more (check out , Engadget, Gizmodo, and Macrumors). We bought an iPhone, but have been trapped in AT&T activation hell (it's been a few hours, we've cycled through 4 different customer service reps, and have waited on hold longer than we were on line). It's very pretty, though.
This entry has a slideshow. To view the slideshow your browser must have the Flash Player. (If you are using a newsreader that doesn't support Flash click here to launch the slideshow.)
Top photograph by ~Raymond on Flickr; celebratory customer and photo of David Pogue by Tien Mao; photo of Apple employees by Jen Chung; slideshow by Neil Epstein
|
Was a long time coming - the iPhone was first predicted in 1979...
too bad nobody died
we waited 40 minutes for 4 blocks length and there was still plenty of iPhone action at 5th ave. A friend of mine also went to Soho at 7pm and waited for three minutes, so there is still plenty to have.
Forget the iPhone, what I'm waiting for is the sixth-generation (6G) iPod which will probably adopt the large display, improved GUI and maybe wifi.
Maybe in 2-3 years when the 3G iPhone is released with a 32GB SSD and is available with Verizon, I'll bite.
maybe when the 4g phone is released with pair of testicles...
of course they're still available - it will be the only product apple ever overstocks/overproduces, this way they can bilk you lemmings on a monthly basis.
the greatest trick the devil ever played was convincing you he didn't exist...jobs had you all fooled about gates.
Pathetic!
disgusting.
Anyone know the program that Gothamist used for the slideshow? Thanks.
[8] check it out:
http://www.slideshowpro.net/
slideshowpro dot net
this is bad comedy.
Zombies.
you all are just as pathetic for wasting your time writing "pathetic" and "zombies"...get over yourselves
Well, if someone chooses to get on line, that's up to them.
I'm not about to get one but it is an interesting design. I might think about it when Ver 2.00 comes out with better connectivity features.
i understand that companies want the free publicity of handing stuff out to people on line, but really. do people who are spending $600 on a gadget need free water and socks? there were probably homeless people picking food out of garbage cans within blocks of this madhouse. if only corporations saw as much good pr in doing good as they did in stunts like giving free coffee to dorks who can take off time from work to buy an expensive toy.
^ yeah totally, they should hand out free iPhones to bums. Anway I'm going to wait for their next revisions before dropping money on one like I have with my electronic gadgets.
The biggest problem with cell phones in this country, other than the assholes who use them when they shouldn't and of course talk too loud, is that you are locked into a phone/service provider and most of them tend to cripple the bloody things. You should have any cellphone on any network you want and should be able to transfer from provider to provider.
The biggest drawback with the iPhone is that it is on the AT&T (nee. Cingular) network.
people waited in line for 5 days and it didn't even sell out. hehehe. they must feel stupid.
People are really into iPhone. Even my friends are talking about it since it was said through news. New technology, New Style. A great thing to have.
Cow-Bell Man making an appearance somewhere other than Shea Stadium (in picture #3 of the slideshow)? CRAZY!
Why do people want iPhones so badly? I am mystified.
Why do people want cell phones so badly? I am mystified...
:-)
Pretty soon, another pretty new shiny gadget will come strut their stuff and make everyone scream for it again. This is, after all, the Technology Age...it's nothing new. I don't know why the media has go to bonkers for this stuff. There's more important stuff to cover than iPhones, *sigh*.
And good luck with the AT&T service, *evil laugh*.
Bunch of iWhores!
AT&T SUCKS.