FINAL UPDATE: The video we promised will be up, but not for a while. It’s Friday night – you can probably find something better to do than watch a grainy little movie about people standing in line, anyway. Having promised this masterpiece though, we guarantee: it’ll be up Saturday.
UPDATE 6:15 iPhone secured. Indulgent, hastily prepared video of the thrill-jammed afternoon will follow later this evening. See you then!
UPDATE 5:53 We’re being prepped on what to do when we enter the store; it’s like boot camp, but a fun happy we-love-you boot camp.
This is like the moment when the spacecraft goes behind the moon, and transmissions cease, and everyone back at Houston holds their breath.
UPDATE 5:34 To everyone’s stunned surprise, the black paper came down early, revealing a timer in the shape of an iPhone, counting down the minutes and seconds. We can see in the store now. Immigrants who got their first glimpse of the Statue of Liberty were less excited.
UPDATE: 5:23 THIS IS REALLY REALLY SAD, says a short little guy with his hat on backwards. THIS IS REALLY REALLY SAD. He cups his hands as he passes for that megaphone effect and swaggers past the line, his buddies grinning at his audaciousness. He’s stickin’ it to nerds! Wicked!
We’re in the final hour. A loose, punch-drunk camaraderie has formed between those of us who’ve been here since, oh, 3:35 or so. The people in the front of the line have been here for twelve hours. They will get their iPhones. The people in the second part of the line have been here for 90 minutes. They, too, will get their iPhones. There's a lesson here, but I leave it for keener minds to discern.
The Cavalcade of Complimentary Diuretics continues: Now they’re handing out free coffee. Calimari is due at 5:30.
A large bald man asks one of the reporters what the heck people are waiting for; informed that it is a phone, he asks if it also grows hair; informed that it does not, he departs. That was one of the features people expected. Next version, maybe.
Black paper update: an entirely different section of the window-covering has come loose. Six o’clock can’t come soon enough for anyone.
UPDATE 4:42 Just a few minutes ago, tremendous great excitement: all the Apple store clerks filed out, and headed west. Something’s happening!
UPDATE: nothing happened. Perhaps the clerks are only released to the restrooms in groups of nine to ensure no one runs off with an iPhone and spills the beans before the appointed hour. Ah: They’re handing out water again. And it’s SMARTwater, too. None of that plain old stupefying H2O for us.
The black paper that covers the window and hides the treasures of the temple is coming off over the door. They’ve been at it for 15 minutes, trying to get the tape to stick. It doesn’t. We can’t see anything, but it looks, well, less that insanely perfect . This is the sort of thing that keeps Steve Jobs up all night just worrying about it. You thought you'd covered everything - and at the last moment, the tape lets you down. Heads will roll tomorrow.
The crowd has now completely filled the roped-in area, and is starting to spill into the general population. Over 200 people so far, with the same male-female ratio as you’ll find at a Star Trek convention. (Think Powerball odds.)
UPDATE 4:15 A cheerful Apple rep just strolled by and said “It’s totally worth the wait, guys!” Talk about preaching to the choir: She could stagger out of the blacked-out store, bleeding, screaming IT ATE MY FACE and people wouldn’t leave the line.
The Apple guys are handing out bottles of water. This is a cruel trick to see whether people will leave the line to relieve the painful pressure on their bladders. (Answer: no. You can always sew up a burst bladder, but missing the iPhone on launch day can never be undone.)
The second fellow in line has a chair with a holder for his iPod. (He’s listening to Green Day.) Most of the people in the front row have chairs. The rest of us are on the floor, and it’s not until you spend a lot of time on the MOA floor that you realize how much it moves. Up and down. Up and down. A news crew is interviewing the people who’ve been out here since 5 AM, and discovering that there’s really not a lot to say about people who’ve been here since 5 AM, other than the fact that they’ve been here since 5 AM.
According to Steve, a cheerful burly Apple guy, the line is only 30 people long over at the AT&T store. Why? Because no one wants to sit in a line at a cellphone store. Not when they can be among Their People.
3:41 We are live from the hallway outside the Apple Store at the Mall of America. Apparently there is some sort of event taking place here today.
Much amused derision from passersby, who do not understand the importance of this day. Two kids, upon learning that this was The Day of Days, immediately joined the line, full of the cheerful zeal of the newly converted. One man passed by and remarked, a bit louder than necessary, that IT’S JUST A PHONE. We will pray for him.
The first guy in line has been here since 5 AM. His T-shirt says “Got iPhone?” Well, no. That’s why we’re here.
No iPhone for me!
Alas, James!
No iPhone for me. I live in Fargo. Apple isn't selling 'em in ND.
Keep the faith!