iWait for iPhone

Quote of the day:
"You should never have your best trousers on when you go out to fight for freedom and truth."
--Henrik Ibsen

I have never been an early adopter. I’ve always been proud of my reasonable approach: to wait a few months or years for the kinks to be worked out and for the price to come down.

But I decided to use the gift card the kind people at Mission Hills United Methodist Church gave me to buy an iPhone at the Apple Store.

I thought I might have to wear a funny hat if I went to the store early to wait in line. But it turned out to be a lot of fun. We met some interesting people, young and old and in-between. Some folks recognized me from my KPBS days.

We were about 200th in a line that was calm and well-managed. The Apple folks came by regularly with updates and bottles of water (Smart Water, naturally).

A in-house video crew came by and asked to film an interview with us. I didn’t say “call now!” a single time. Merrie sparkled in her star turn.

At 3 minutes before the iPhone’s release at 6 o’clock, the entire store staff--about 50 of them--came running down the line, cheering and high-fiving everyone. Yeah, yeah, it’s a gimmick--but it was great!

At six, a roar went up as the doors opened. There was quite a crowd gathered just to watch. Merrie and I were inside making the purchase about a half hour later.

The iPhone is amazing, by the way.