Stories from the trail: Purchasing the Apple iPhone 3G
Spending ten hours in a mall full of people isn’t exactly my cup of tea, however, DigitalBurn never stops in providing you with the latest technology news! I began my journey to purchase an iPhone 3G for review this morning at 9:45 AM, and ended it at 8:00 PM. When I arrived at the Apple store at the local mall, the line was wrapped around the store - seven long turns, to be exact. I jumped in line, behind approximately 400 people waiting for the new device to launch. The line moved painfully slow throughout the day; the store was letting 10-15 individuals in at a time, when iTunes wasn’t failing.
Below is the ‘diary’ that I kept during the entire ordeal, and check below for the picture gallery. An unboxing will follow shortly!
9:45am: Arrived at the Apple store in the mall. The line is roped off at the front of the store, and stretches out down the long hallway beside the store. I keep going - wait, there’s more. The line stretches around for a total of seven turns - beyond the furnished part of the mall and into the back room. The Apple store reps are very friendly, and continue to offer help, and provide water - Smartwater nonetheless (not cheap). Customer directly in front of me jokes that the Smartwater will help her understand the iPhone (get it?).
10:05am: I begin to meet everyone around me, and we converse back and forth. The individual directly behind me, Adam, is upgrading his EDGE iPhone to the new 3G model, and we were able to chat a bit about technology.
11:10am: Apple reps are making the rounds and stating that iTunes and AT&T’s servers are overloaded, due to the east coast recently going online.
12:15:pm We’re still in the same place; haven’t moved an inch since the last report. Just now, Apple reps have said that internet traffic has resumed, so the line should be moving shortly. As I typed the last statement, we ’scooted’ - that would quickly become our favorite word throughout the day.
12:45pm: Not moved too far, but we’re having a decent conversation about the new features of the phone and offerings of the various service providers. I take a brief break to grab a sandwich, and come back to the line not moving an inch.
12:50pm: iTunes overloads again, and the line comes to a stop.
1:26pm: Still in line, but the light at the end of the tunnel can be seen - literally (skylights from the mall). We have moved to the final hallway, and we are all eagerly awaiting the entrance of the store. According to the Apple reps, iTunes is back online.
2:40pm: Moved a bit, about 60 customers away. iTunes dies shortly thereafter.
5:35pm: Finally get into the store! However, my account has activation problems - AT&T had to be called, and the manual review wasn’t being pushed to their handheld devices. After a second attempt, they asked me to leave and come back later (with a claim check). After eight hours in line, I was ready to cry.
7:15pm: I go back, and fortunately, on the third attempt, it works! In the process, I bricked two other iPhones (if they don’t activate properly, they can’t resell them - they’re bricked). I now have a new black iPhone 3G 16GB.
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