Social: Virtues (Or Lack Of) Waiting In Line For An Apple Product Launch

Last night, I took a small nap and woke up just before midnight Friday to order my iPhones.  As I've said before, it was seamless for me.  Maybe it's because I'm in the same time zone as Apple.  But as I was waiting to order and even after for about an hour or so, I followed many of the online forums and Twitter to gauge what's going on outside - in the hundreds if not thousands of retail locations where people were lined up, waiting for that moment at 8 am or whenever the Apple or reseller stores would open, and get inside and buy the iPhone of their choice.

Once, I lined up at the Manhattan Beach, California Apple store to pick up my original iPad pre-order.  A couple of friends went with me.  That was fun but I got there at 5 am which was nothing like what others have done to get ahead of the line.  Lining up even day before.  Or days.

Another time, I went at 3 am to line up at the Pasadena store for the iPhone 4S.  But that was not on launch day but the day after.  It was a bit scary because it was such a crazy thing to do.  I mean, sure, it was an iPhone but it was just a mobile computing device and I had the iPhone 4 in my pocket!

But once I got there, there were already folks lined up about fifty deep.  Half the folks there wanted a 4S because they were upgrading from a 3G or 3GS.  Even the original iPhone.  The other half wanted to get their hands on them and sell them to the Chinese overseas who would pay top dollars for it.  Oh well.  It's a free country with a free economy.

I tended to ignore those folks.  However, I did have a good time talking to others who shared my enthusiasm for the iPhone and other Apple products.  Some were getting it for themselves and others for their love ones.  Some didn't quite understand the cult of Apple but understood that their love ones do.

It's an experience.  It's fun.  I think if you're an Apple fan, go do this once at least to see what it's like.