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iPhone day!

I'm at Cambridgeside Galleria (and have been here since about 5:30) in line for the iPhone. There are a number of people here, I'm about tenth out of twenty or twenty five. Some are more "hard core" than others. WBZ radio was here earlier, and the television crews were interviewing as well.

The mall security staff have done a decent job roping off a separate area for the line while still leaving access to other stores. Of course, the only stores open as of right now are food - Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks.

At least the air conditioning is on, it wasn't when we first came in at 6am. Of course the "Mall Radio" is playing as well. I'm just as glad I've got my iPod with me.

A little less than nine hours to go!

The tension is palpable
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Comments

May god have mercy on your soul!

being serious, good for you! (i did it for a PS3, it was fun)

but I'd rather wait for a 3G version, one that works with verizon, and one with all the bugs worked out. I'm not too keen on the features it's missing too, and would rather see what other phone (trio & blackberrys) co's start offering trying to catch up.

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And if you happen to have a camera, e-mail some pix and I'll post!

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It would be great to get iPhones for our public libraries' reference desk departments. Benefactors of our libraries could donate iPhones.

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...what benefits would an iPhone give libraries that they don't already have access to?

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the body count is at about 40 right now.

the local CVS is doing a bumper business in foldable chairs. At just $15 per, there must be about 10 people in line who have them.

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the idiot mall cop came over & asked me to put my shoes back on. I'd taken them off to sit more comfortably.

He didn't make the same comment to the guy wearing flip flops next to me.

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He says the reason Apple is opening up sales at 6 p.m. instead of 10 a.m. is because people will be off work then.

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mall security just asked us to "tighten up the line" because it was stretching outside. It stretches from just outside the Apple Store past the escalator down to the Cheesecake Factory.

They could have banned chairs, that would have tightened things up pretty quickly. But I guess that the segway-riding security guards might consider that hypocritical.

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How are you handling them? Do people let you leave for a few minutes to take care of things?

Thanks for the updates!

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mall security is letting us govern ourselves. When I need to leave my yoga mat, whether for food or other "calls of nature", I just tell those people on either side of me.

The Apple Store closed at 2pm, and by 2:06pm the efficient staff had put up blackout shades to shield the line standers (and the merely curious) from seeing what was going on inside.

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And they've got a giant wooden moose to contend with! MyDedham reports on some kid who's camping out at the ex-Cingular store next to Bugaboo Creek - with the intention of selling his phone as soon as he buys it (at a hefty premium, of course).

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Rob has declared himself officially dead so he can get out of his T-Mobile contract and get an iPhone.

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Last time I checked, the Apple Store site in Copley Square was just an excavated hole in the ground. Aren't you going to have a pretty long wait there?

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They're lined up at the AT&T store ...

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I took a peek through a tiny slit in the blackout shades in the window of the Apple Store. All I could see was a ladder.

In the meantime, people are passing time in various ways. There's a group on one side of me who is playing poker on top of an empty cardboard box. On the other side of me was a couple who were playing travel "Battleship".

Another guy further down the line from me (someone I work with) even fell asleep. In fact, quite a few people have slept during the day. Could I? I don't know if my yoga mat is that soft. Still, I've been awake since before 0500, and I must admit that I'm flagging. The adrenaline of the expectation of 6pm hasn't kicked in yet.

I checked out the end of the line about ten minutes ago; people are still coming along. I wonder how long it will take Apple to clear the line, if it will happen by midnight (their posted closing time) or not. I don't care; I should be in the first batch. Before the store closed I saw a whole pile of staffers inside, I'd guess at least 40 of them. That's a good ratio as far as I'm concerned.

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Pretty pitiful line at the Washington Street AT&T store. Only three people at lunchtime.

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This line happens every time Apple releases a new major version of the OS X operating system. I've done that three times, for Jaguar, Panther, and Tiger. You'll probably see me there again for Leopard later this year.

Jaguar was version 10.2, so they closed the store early in the evening, then opened it at exactly 10:20 pm. They were supposed to remain open only until midnight, but I ended up being the last customer leaving the place (with a brand-new iMac) around 1:30 am.

They must have learned something from this experience, because the next two times, the release was at a more reasonable hour in the evening.

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From Cambridgeside Galleria, even - where in addition to our loyal correspondent, one will also find a roving Baratunde.

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long day over. My iPhone and I are at home.

I must say that Apple did a bang-up job getting customers in & out of the store quickly. They also displayed the many iPhone accessories available. The staff were literally restocking the shelves as customers looked at cases, headsets, etc.

Now as soon as iTunes 7.3 finishes downloading, I will activate my iPhone.

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Meanwhile, Rod Begbie shows off his iPhone, acquired at the Chestnut Hill Mall.

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I got to the Cambridge Side Galleria at 9 this morning and they had a large inventory of iPhones. No waiting. No lines. And it is a thing of beauty....

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why?

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