Headed back to the local AT&T store after work to catch the final hour of hype. At it’s longest, I’d estimate the line at 50 or 60. The AT&T staff all had that deer-in-the-headlight look. Nobody had ever stood in line for anything they were selling.
My favorite moments (my battery was low so I didn’t capture these) were cell phone customers who kept showing up to pay their bill and were pissed (and totally mystified) they couldn’t get in. I shit you not… 9 out of 10 had never heard of the iPhone. Or the iPod. Or Apple.
One can only assume they don’t have TV’s or radios (forget newspapers). And to a man (or woman)… they had waited to the very last moment to pay their cell phone bill (“They’ll cut my off tonight if you don’t let me in to pay!”).
I can’t recall (in my lifetime) this much (buzz/hype/interest) in a product launch. There were men, women and children waiting in line. I saw a couple of families.
AppleJAC’er Tom Piper waited in line to get an iPhone. Learfielder, Paul Roberts, M.D. insisted he was “just looking,” but I didn’t wait around to see if he took the plunge. The video runs about 3 1/2 minutes.
In an unusual display of discipline and self restraint, I held off the urge to be a lemming and dive off the $600 iCliff. It was fun to see and test drive but I will wait for improved performance. Christmas is coming…
PS – in your interview, when asking about “chick magnetic qualities” the line “some of you guys are gonna need something good” FLOORED me.
I succumbed.
It was much the same atmosphere here – regular customers irritated, people behind me in line disappointed and pissed. (I was #29 in line, the store had 30 phones) Overall, I think Apple and AT&T got exactly what they wanted… brisk sales, tons of coverage and hype, and new customers leaving the other cell companies in droves.