I have to admit that I had a bit of a flashback while standing in line to get my new iPhone. The feel was kind of like standing in the line to get into an exclusive nightclub. There were bouncers at the doors and a long waiting line. In fact there were two lines. One line was for the normal customers who just wanted to buy something or had an appointment to have their Mac looked at and the other line was for the masses that wanted to buy the iPhone.
The feel was much the same, the club was so exclusive that fact, that the Marquise doesn’t show a name, just the Apple symbol. The only thing missing was the fact that the bouncers were not selecting individuals to go into the store that was being handled by guys in orange shirts. The crowd also felt like a typical crowd you would see standing in line to get into a nightclub. There were quite a few odd people in the line. Some had spiky hair, others were dressed to impress, and others looked rather eccentric.
The line moved fairly swiftly though, and soon I found myself half way to the door. I had my iPod with me and was enjoying listening to an audible book or just watching the people pass by. As people exited the store with their new iPhone, the waiting crowd would applaud and those lucky few would grace us with a smile. I saw one guy leave the Apple store, and entered into a very exclusive boutique which sold handbags. It was obvious that this guy could not go home with just one iPhone, he had to take something for his wife. He walked with a bit of a swagger from the Apple store into the boutique and up to the front counter. Placing his newly bought iPhone on the countertop, he leaned in close to flirt with the cashier. She started to show him a variety of handbags, all that were very expensive and probably costs just as much as his iPhone. He showed little interest in the handbags and a lot more interest in the salesclerk. In his attempt to be cool, he accidentally knocked his brand-new iPhone to the floor! All the coolness drained out of his face as he watched his brand-new toy bounce on the floor. He quickly retrieved it and to his luck, it was not damaged. He didn’t buy the handbag and quickly left with is prized possession.
A guy two people in front of me, had to abandon his position in the line because his toddler decided that she had had enough and wanted to do something more interesting. Several people standing in the line wanted to show how special they were by playing with their old iPhones. I thought to myself, “ Come on do you really need a new phone?” I guess some people have money to burn. After an hour and a half, it was finally my turn to enter Club Apple.
I was informed of the limited selection that they had left, which was fine with me because I wanted a white iPhone anyway. Besides, all the cool kids have white iPhones. the sales rep called in to AT&T and deactivated my old phone and activated it my new phone. After waiting for a few minutes, he was puzzled that the iPhone had not activated. He called AT&T again and as suspected, AT&T had dropped the ball and not activated the iPhone. They corrected the problem and in a few minutes I was heading out the door to a much smaller fanfare and home with my new iPhone.