Apple iPhone

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Apple iPhone

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Anthony Fiti
Kurtis
N/A
Jul. 8, 2007

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The Line

The forecasted temperature for Friday was 107° F, and I was reconsidering my decision to go and wait in line outside in the heat at an AT&T store, entertaining the idea that I should wait with the masses down at the Apple store on the Las Vegas Strip.

I read the message boards in the hopes that folks from around my local area would be posting information on the lines as they formed around the city. I personally took a drive around my neighborhood to look at the lines at the local AT&T stores, and there were about five people at each location around 8AM.

The second thoughts didn't last long however, as more rumors circulated about the local AT&T stores not having many phones (50-70) as well as how quickly lines were growing.

Once I realized that I would probably need to spend about six hours out in the heat to guarantee myself an 8GB unit, I changed plans and headed down to the mall around 10AM, to find myself around #140 in line seven hours and fifteen minutes before the product would go on sale.

I was astounded by the amount of people in line already at this early hour. I discovered that the mall's doors had opened at 7AM to the few who were already there, and word spread quickly as by 8:30AM there were already 50 people in line and as the line grew by 9:45 it had escalated to around 90 people.

The rent-a-cop security guards were jerks of course, I found out that for the first three hours they prohibited people from sitting on the floor, suffice to say that the people in line were outraged and learning they were going to have to stand in place for 10 hours. Eventually the security guards relented and let the folks sit down on the floor; however they were strict on prohibiting camping chairs as well as lying down. Oh well, $10/hour rent-a-cops just flexing their muscles.

The folks in line around me were nice people, except for the guy behind me who paid a somewhat obnoxious 10 year old (as well as his older siblings further back in the line) to wait in line for him so he could secure more than the limit of 2 phones. Over the course of the first few hours, we discussed the various rumors and features of the phone, and I would occasionally pull out my MacBook and use the Apple store's free WiFi to check the various forums to gauge the east coast response to the release.

The line grew throughout the day as well, by 1PM the area I was in (the second major line area) was full and they were directing folks to wait in a hall that leads to the loading dock area. By 5PM the line had stretched outside to the loading dock. People would ask the security guards where to line up, and then come and ask what time we had arrived, and were astounded to learn that we had been there just about all day.

We were treated very well by Apple staff however, handing out smart water to the folks waiting in line through the day, every few hours to make sure folks were hydrated and no one passed out.

Curiously, about a half hour before the store reopened, an Apple retail worker came out and told the folks at the end of my waiting area (around #175-200 in line) that they were in the "danger zone" of not getting a phone. Suffice to say, I thought this confirmed my hunch that the store had only got around 400 phones.

As the doors open, the line processed, and we got closer and closer. Apple had around eight or nine registers open, with a very organized system going to make sure they were as efficient as possible. If you were paying with a credit card you could go to the genius bar area as they had setup POS terminals for non-cash transactions. I approached the counter and then looked around, surprised by the number of iPhones that were out and ready for purchase. I realized that my 400 number probably wasn't correct, and as the stock indicators later showed, the store had probably around 1000, if not 2,000 ready to sell.

I told the girl at the counter I wanted one 8GB phone and two minutes later I was out the door with my iPhone. I was stopped as I left the store by a photojournalist for a local news station and was interviewed for three minutes or so, he would ask questions about the phone and why I was so interested and why I had waited so long in line.

After that I was on my way home to activate my iPhone.

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Page 2 of 14

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Page 1: Introduction
Page 2: The Line
Page 3: What's In the Box & First Looks
Page 4: Plans and Activation
Page 5: User Experience - Interface
Page 6: User Experience - Battery Life
Page 7: User Experience - the Keyboard
Page 8: User Experience - Widescreen iPod
Page 9: User Experience - Mobile Phone and Text Messaging
Page 10: User Experience - Internet and Email
Page 11: User Experience - Widgets and Other Features
Page 12: AT&T's Network - From Fine Edge to Broken Edge
Page 13: Missing Features
Page 14: Conclusion

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5 User Comments

1 - Posted by ebernet on July 9, 2007 - 3:05 pm

Instead of buying another apple cable, I bought a car charger that included both a USB>Mini USB that works with my camera and will charge a blackberry, and a USB>Dock connector cable. Both cables AND the cigarette lighter dohicky were the same $20 as just the cable, AND they were black. I even bought it at the Apple store. It was made by Griffin, I am sure others do it.
Eytan

2 - Posted by ebernet on July 9, 2007 - 3:53 pm

Some more comments - Yahoo provides free push email, and will sync your address book up to Yahoo - a great feature and a way to get address book syncing between machines without paying the .mac tax.

As for the battery issue, a full charge cycle is a full discharge/charge, which I have had 2 so far. After the 350-450 FULL cycles you are at 80% of your battery.

As a longtime iPod owner, the battery has never been an issue for me. My hope is that by the time I need a battery replacement (2 years down the line or more) an after market of doing the installs will exist - and while it will not be 35 like it is now for the iPod, it will be a cheaper $50 or so then Apple's 80+, and by then the battery capacities will be higher. I think we need to wait and give the battery grief when the battery deserves grief, when problems start...

3 - Posted by Kurtis on July 9, 2007 - 7:37 pm

Thanks for the comments, ebernet. And welcome to TheTechLounge forums. :)

BTW, regarding battery life, I think it's a valid concern, considering that the brand new battery under heavy use only lasts a single day. 2 days tops for moderate-heavy use. My treo650 used to go for a week before I'd have to charge it, and after a year and a half or so, now it dies in 2 days. Of course, mine is easily replaceable, but the point is that if it has such short battery life NEW, any decrease in that battery life is going to be a big issue down the road, and that is inevitable.

4 - Posted by ynYmpmTbMbfl on December 3, 2007 - 9:57 pm

IXiMcB post, Thanks. That’s Ben. a super ,

5 - Posted by Max Slowik on December 3, 2007 - 11:02 pm

snorkt.

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