iDay

I got up at 4am to go get in line for an iPhone. I'm at Barton Creek Square in Austin. The mall cops weren't letting people into the parking lot when I got here. There were people parked all along the street for a half mile in both directions. I parked and walked back in the dark and got in line. At 5:30 they let the line move up to the mall. We got to stand by the dumpster behind California Pizza Kitchen which smelled lovely in the pre-dawn heat and humidity. The guys in line around me and I took turns going to get our cars to move them off the street. I got my chair out of the car then.

From Apple iPhone4

From Apple iPhone4

At 6am they opened the doors to the mall. The entry way was lined with Apple employees who clapped and cheered as the line moved through the doors. It was like it was my birthday at TGIFridays. At that point it felt like I was about number 200 in line and there were twice as many people behind me. As soon as we got inside an Apple employee came around with a cart full of bottled water and gave one to every person in line.

From Apple iPhone4

Next they separated the people in line into two lines -- people who got their reservation to go through online, and those of us who were unsuccessful. I was moved to another area of the mall where I sat from 6:30 to 9:00, at which point I decided I needed to go get my lappy. The mall has free wifi.

I had been reading a story about Jonestown when I took this picture.

From Apple iPhone4

The Chick-fil-a manager came down the line and gave everybody a free breakfast. She told us they had coffee and ice tea by the entrance to the Apple store. People were too dazed to even be that excited about it. We realized it would just make us have to go to the bathroom. And the mall really didn't make any changes to their standard deal. The lights weren't on in the bathrooms yet.

From Apple iPhone4

At 9:30 they moved my line forward one section of walkway. They kept us clear of interesections just like we were cars in a traffic jam. And it looks like we're moving again!