It all began in January, the MacWorld 2007 Keynote that would change the cell phone industry from here on out. Steve Jobs gave the impression that Apple would be rolling out three products, a phone, Internet device, and an iPod. He repeated himself, not once, but twice. Most of the Keynote attendees caught on after he said it once, that indeed this device would be all in one. The crowd up roared when Steve finally said it himself: iPhone. From that day on out, many people were amazed with this product. The world wanted more details, rather than just a phone sitting in a glass case heavily guarded. As months went by, little by little details started to emerging, the most being about 2 weeks from launch all the way up to the day before the launch, as these preview videos, press releases, and the usual what not.
What Day Is It? It's iDay!
Thousands of people knew what they had to do today. "Get. iPhone." People already started camping out on Tuesday at the Fifth Avenue Apple store in New York. Many were also calling in their local stores checking the status of the lines. I called my AT&T store around 1 PM, and asked the employee, "Are there any lines for the iPhone yet?" He peeked around the corner, and tells me, "Ohhh, there is about 25 people or so in line already, is that all I can help you with?" This store is just a small little store in a strip mall. It is at the corner of a extremely busy intersection, but still, 25 people? I drove by the store around 7 AM and already saw that one guy was waiting in line with his laptop, which is what sparked people to start coming I assume. 2:30 roles around I decide that I should head down there to wait in line.
I must say this was a great experience. The people in line were very nice and talkative; one guy even bought me a drink while I held his spot in line so he could get me something. AT&T was passing out free water all day, but I was surprised when they started offering us free pizza and pop. I passed, but still, good job AT&T and Apple for doing this, as I confirmed they did this at many stores.
6 PM roles around, and the people on the east coast are already playing with their iPhones while us Centrals' are about to get our phone. They were only allowing a handful of people in the store at a time, probably three at the most. A employee comes out and tells us that stock is running low, and everyone in the line just pauses and feels a bit of anger. A few minutes later they announce the 8 GB's have run out, so a few people get out of line.
It was finally my turn! I was so excited, all I was hoping was that they wouldn't break the news to me that they had run out of 4 GB's (which by the way, was all I needed). When I walked in, I was greeted, and shook hands with the employees. They were also offering demos, which did hold up the line a great deal. They broke the news to me at the checkout that I was getting the last iPhone as well, which made me feel unbelievably lucky, as camping out for 4 hours was worth it. Not to mention about 50 people were behind me still.
As I paid and finished, I walked out the door, and this time the "greeter guy" actually shook my hand and gave me a pat on the back, saying "Good Luck". Parking was limited so I had to park a few blocks away, but as I walked to my car, people were yelling at me from their cars and on the sidewalk. I heard a lot of "Whoa, you got a iPhone!" and "You're so lucky!" Now, time to hurry home.
Overall, I was extremely pleased with what I call as "iDay", and if I could do it all over, I would. AT&T / Apple planned this perfectly.
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