Back of the line
New Apple products create long lines, this is nothing new, but this round was extensive.
According to Apple, over 600,000 iPhone 4s were pre-ordered and each Apple store backed up these numbers. People began lining up and camping at Apple stores across the nation, days before its initial release. Some smarter individuals managed to even have the phone shipped to their homes, a day early at that.
In Washington DC, you really only had three choices, and only one was indoors for the majority of the waiting. Pentagon City Mall, which is always buzzing with thousands of DC tourists, was already alive at 5 am. Hundreds of people started to trickle in and when the metro system opened at 6, the onslaught of Apple fans invaded the mall.
This was the second Apple line of doom I decided to partake in, although I was under the impression that it would only take three hours. The word miscalculation never applied to anything better, as it ended up taking exactly 7 hours and 30 minutes.
I arrived just before 7 am, where I saw two girls running at light speed to the elevator. I made a break for it and followed the now winded girls, only to realize that the lines were already reaching inches from the elevator exit. All sorts of confusion brewing, as it would appear there was a short line for non-reserved people and those who did reserve it. We asked numerous people and they too, had little idea of where they should be.
A loud roar of cheers grew like a large wave over the crowd.
It was 7 am and I just found where the end of the line was, which sadly was nowhere the the store entrance. The Apple store opened and they greeted the most dedicated to coffee and doughnuts, which finally came to us two hours later (still, free food rocks *yes, you really pay for it, but meh).
Rather than twiddle my thumbs for what I assumed would only be three hours, I remote connected into my office and did a good five hours of work. The other two were filled with reading “A Corpse in the Koryo,” by James Church. It’s pretty good. Throughout the journey of the Apple lines, you will meet some interesting characters.
Most of the people were smart and took the day off work, maybe they didn’t even have jobs. My Apple line buddy was supposed to be at work, sort of like myself (because Play This pays oh so well, ha!). They even offered to take a photo of me and send to my boss, but luckily nobody was at work anyways (we assume they were all in line as well).
I’m still dumbfounded that it would take 7 or more hours, let alone I actually waited for it. Although I must admit this phone really is immensely better than the 3G, which I’ve dropped and probably got the only Apple virus on.
Lost in translation
When I finally got up to the front of the line, the non-reserved line was allowed to send one of theirs in first, which was slightly annoying. I’m also slightly confused why it took so long to get 300 people in and out of the store, when it took 10 minutes for me. They had 15 people working with just the iPhone 4, so 7 hours seems a bit insane.
In the end, I came out with some free pizza, coffee and a sweet iPhone 4. I also will never again wait in a ridiculous line for an Apple product again.
It’s 2010, Apple. Please fix your shipping site next year.
Five Second Review
The iPhone 4 rocks. We have found no issues with dropped calls or reduced bars, but I’m a lefty and don’t hold the phone like an idiot. There are no strange yellow splotches either. The camera flash is bar far the best phone LED flash I’ve ever seen, it also stays on constantly while filming video.
In comparison to the 3G, it’s lightning fast. I’m also under the impression that my previous phone lied to me a great deal, because this actually shows me when I have 3G connection or just edge. I would ride the DC metro and AT&T would pretend I was at full bars, clearly there is no reception in the tunnels. The WIFI ability has vastly increased as well, as I can remain connected to FIOS while walking my dogs outside. The 3G would drop WIFI as soon as I left the apartment.
All in all a solid phone. Probably not in the sense of durability, but I can’t wait to start filming worthless videos and posting them to YouTube. Who want’s to see a video of my cat miffy? You do, and you will LIKE IT!
