I start at the end of the line and walk to the store. Today’s column in PC Magazine explains this phenomenon. Click here to read.
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#31
Ahh yes, but is the iPhone the Transformers movie?? No? Then the iPhone is inferior to the Transformers movie!
Greg, I DO feel happy for you. I’m going to see Transformers tomorrow with my two sons. It looks like it will bee good!
No worries about lineups though. My daughter went to see Evan Almighty, and there were only 3 people in the theatre.
33. Ask your daughter if there were dinosaurs on Evans Ark.
@34, Of course there was …Evan!
what I find interesting – and this is not confined to the iPhone line, but you see it everywhere – we Americans consider ourselves rebels, individualists, and so forth. but we que up like good Soviets waiting for a consignment of toothpaste.
we even line up when we don’t really need to. A NYT columnist noticed this on Broadway – people lining up outside the doors of theaters an hour before showtime, even though it is assigned seating.
Doug, #36, well put. We Americans do like to spout off all the heroic cliches about ourselves but your actual comparison is spot on.
Screw lines I am not forced to stand in. At least the DMV gives me a chair.
#37. Yeah, my DMV does, too. remarkably civilized for a bureaucracy.
Fascinating vid. Remarkable that it took five minutes to get from the end of the line to the front, and also a fascinating reflection of SF Apple CULTure vs. the rest of the country. (Okay, maybe not in this specific case; the rest of the country was pretty nuts over Apple’s latest, too; still SF is certainly unique in this regard.) Would love to see a second vid of the 38% of these folks queued up at the AT&T store to complain about being unable to get their iPhones up and running. Heh.
Maybe it is because I’m a writer. But, I actually like to observe people sometimes. My iPhone wait will make an appearance in a short story in some way or another.
Thoughts on the PCMag article…
I agree that Jobs has stumbled on to something interesting. In short, the game console lines brought together groups of people that had something in common: gaming. Likewise, the iPhone brought groups of people together with something in common: Interest in the iPhone.
There seems to be a line of thought in this country that we’re more connected than ever, but things like this tend to indicate that we’re more separated than ever. I personally hate to wait in a line as well, and I wouldn’t have waited more than 10 minutes for mine (I waited 5). However, look at the people waiting in these lines: The vast majority are the crowd you’d expect to live in their parents’ basements. While not mocking them (it’s too easy), let’s recognize the fact that they may like a little human interaction every now and then.
The question is if this trend will, or can, continue. There are only a few companies that can create this kind of product buzz, and many who wish they could but can’t (Microsoft being chief among them). Is it more art than science? Is it even a good thing?
Craig, the AT&T problems were only 2% of sales.
I’m hoping the Open Moko phones come through and blow the iPhone out of the water.
If you ever see some protesters in the background holding a protest against protests, I’ll be in that group. 😉
#26 Jim..so you equate waiting in line to see Jimi Hendrix the same as waiting to buy a gizmo that you can buy anytime. OK, whatever.
#30 – Dude!!! why can’t you feel happy for me??? I have transformer tickets!!! For tonight!
Comment by GregA — 7/2/2007 @ 12:17 pm
Why can’t I be happy for you?
For starters I can’t be happy for anyone who is about to be subjected to the latest entry in the brutal and soul devouring filmography we call, The Michael Bay Catalog…
# The Island (2005)
# The Lionel Richie Collection (2003) (V) (video “Do It to Me”)
# Bad Boys II (2003)
# Pearl Harbor (2001)
# Armageddon (1998/I)
# The Rock (1996)
# Bad Boys (1995)
# Shadows and Light: From a Different View (1992) (V)
# Great White: My… My… My… the Video Collection (1991) (V)
# Playboy Video Centerfold: Kerri Kendall (1990) (V)
For those with a heart for horror, Bay is listed as Producer for a remake of The Birds and he is slated to helm a film treatment of “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time”
So the only good thing I can say about Michael Bay is that he isn’t Roland Emmerich.
No John, I would rather see Jimi Hendrix any day. But I’m not 14 any more, and in case you didn’t notice, this isn’t 1966.
#45. the last one on the list was not too bad ….
another observation on the phenomenon of the iPhone line. People want to be part of something that they perceive to be special. before our lives became so focused upon snapping up merchandise, this generally entailed political campaigns and religious revivals.
now, for a lot of people, this has come down to product roll-outs, whether it be the iPhone or the latest Harry Potter book.
given the damage that politics and religion have both done, consumerism is comparatively harmless – not much chance an iPhone line is going to turn into a pogrom, after all.
They are letting him redo “The Birds”. Poor Alfred. I didnt realize what a hack this guy is, all those films blow. Except MAYBE The Island, and just because I have a slight crush on Ms. Scarlett. Ok its a big crush.
Whatever you think about Apple, their advertising is pure genius.
John C., nice touch starting out with the cable car.
#42: I stand corrected. I’d seen an early report that suggested 38%. If it’s indeed only 2%, that’s not a bad number at all.
Do you think many were having sex in that line? After all, It’s SF.
J.C.: “What bothers me, I suppose, it [sic] that it actually entails waiting in line like a loser for no real reason. What is the symbolism here anyway?”
The symbolism here is dedication, committment and fraternity. Those three elements are hard to find at home these days.
“Welcome to The Social” as MS was trying so hard to push with their Zune comes just naturally to Apple products.
Pedro, why don’t you at least check the facts before you post. 2% with problems AT&T is in the financial news. Craig is a decent poster and he checks for the facts. You should try it sometime instead of criticizing those who do.
I would expect a crappy review from PC Magazine on anything Apple. That’s why I read a variety of sources. Battery time is as advertized and is better than anything on the market. Of course you wouldn’t know that because you only suckle from the PC Mag teat.
Waiting in line for a telephone…..hmmm. I can’t see it. Are that many people so insecure that they MUST have IT FIRST? Seems like a pretty poor way to gain self esteem, by buying it. Great, wait in line for hours (days?) to buy a piece of junk so that you can brag about it to friends for..what 5 minutes (if your friends are tolerant)? In the grand scheme of life — a big nothing.
The phone will get lost, get broken, wear out, become obsolete…in a few months, few years. Unlike waiting in line for TICKETS to a concert…or to see someone much admired, or to be at an event, this has no soul. No heart. No lasting benefit. I mean, if you did stand in line forever and did get to see Hendrix at his last concert, (or Elvis, or the Beatles, or any one of a thousand other “events”) then you’d have something. You’d have the tickets, the event to look forward to, to go to, then the memories of that event for a lifetime. “I saw that…” If you were AT the docks when the ships came in at the end of WW2, that must have been something. That’s a feeling of community and connecting.
But, to stand in line to buy a trinket….what community? You get to talk to the person ahead of you, and behind you. MAYBE two away, but after that, nah. You mostly just stand and wait by yourself. This isn’t an event…its just standing there, like you’re waiting for a bus. Bleah. The line looked like a well-heeled refugee camp.
I feel for the people who try and push the concept it was something big, something special, something important to spend that much time doing. In reality….the need to be FIRST is over rated. The desire to consume is programmed into us. The need to be special because of what you own…is morally bankrupt. Are we really that shallow, selfish and dimwitted?
Apparently, so.
I know that Pedro rarely gets anything right, but will respond anyway.
The reviewers have generally hailed the iPhone battery, saying they watched multiple movies or television shows. Furthermore, I expect to see third-party extender batteries for the iPhone, as there are for the iPod.
I’ve seen only one reviewer who is a naysayer overall regarding the iPhone, Matt Something at ZDNet. One problem with his review is that he makes several mistakes, including believing that there is no way to send full resolution photos from the iPhone. Another is that Nokia has a habit of giving reviewers free phones, in hope of getting a good review compared to the competition. I wonder if he paid for the phones he touts.
I would recommend the N95 to people who mainly want a better quality camera on their cell phones and don’t mind spending $750. But, the iPhone is the better complete convergence device.
Pedro fails at life. Thankfully Apple has a product called iLife that can help you with that.
Honestly junior, your knocks against the iPhone are fading. It’s a better device than what you use. Don’t hate it, just accept it.
I don’t recall ever quoting a PC Mag article… ever. Can link me to the post? You seem to remember it so well…
Here’s one thing I’m looking forward to that a product like the iPhone but with somekind of GPS built-in and clever Web 2.0 apps would bring:
– Organisation in society and among people so nobody needs to wait in line ever again.
In this society of consumerism, some people simply don’t question the fact that some coorporations are making a lot of traffic on them waiting in line. When you wait in line, you are generating frenzy around a product or service, like a magnet, the line tells passer bys that they should also stand in the line if they want to be normal. Normality today is to shut up, not care about politics, but stand in line a buy new products from large coorporations.
The iPhone is all about the feeding of consumers with a flashy piece of gadget that has a flashy interface. But is this interface the best way to do consumer electronics? Or is it just a flashy animation that does not improve any aspects of usability, and a product that does not provide any new features.
Wow! I’m first in line on the 4th of July. Well, I didn’t have to wait in line to be here. Yes, like John I’m over 50. Like John, I’d never stand in line for anything that took longer than the time between meals or that pushed against a good night’s sleep. Never have, never will. There are only so many days in your life- come back Monday for the phone! If it’s sold out, wait a few days! (PS: We have ‘vote by mail’ in Oregon- no one stands in line!)
Being in the industry for almost 15 years there was a time when I always had the ‘coolest’ phone. We were the first ones to sell the StarTac nationwide (joining the other AirTouch dealers who were exclusives. Anyone know what a StarTac was/is today? Today I couldn’t care. I never had to wait in line for any of those phones- they just happened as a dealer for US West-AirTouch-Verizon. I don’t even use or want a smart phone. I really prefer a ‘real computer’ or music player or camera when I need one. Yes, I do carry a 2 meg camera phone for photos when I don’t have my Canon SLR with me but the whole integration thing just isn’t working for me yet. The last figures I saw for the US is that only 5% of those with ‘music capable’ phones were even using those features! Must be frustrating for the carriers who what to make money on those features. We’re pushed to sell add-ons like new car sales people! Maybe in the big cities people use more of those features- and maybe we’re different than other countries. (A lab owner I know in the Philippines gets 80% of the standard size prints that are ordered at her stores from camera phones! Not here!)
So I’ll go buy Tickle Me Elmo at the Goodwill store today for $3- take a walk, listen to the birds, breathe fresh air, go to work on time, spend time with family- and be free of ‘me first’ ism forever! It’s not worth the price/cost of admission, although as a ‘side show’ your video was an amazing insight to the life’s of… what would you call that?!?