Apple

Standing in line for the iPhone in Louisville, New York City, and San Francisco

By · July 3, 2007, 4:22 AM PST · jasonhiner

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  • iPhone line in Louisville, Kentucky at the AT&T store at The Summit

    by Jason Hiner

    Like everyone else (except for a select few like the New York Times and Wall Street Journal), TechRepublic had to wait in line for an iPhone on June 29.

    I waited in line at the AT&T store at The Summit, an open-air shopping mall a few miles away from the TechRepublic office in Louisville, Kentucky.

    Here are the pictures from the line in Louisville as well as photos from New York and San Francisco taken by my colleagues here at CNET Networks.

  • iPhone line in Louisville, Kentucky at the AT&T store at The Summit

    This is the side of the AT&T store that faces the outdoor food court. It was deceptively quiet on the afternoon of June 29. The iPhone line was at the store's entrance on the other side.

  • iPhone line in Louisville, Kentucky at the AT&T store at The Summit

    This is the side where the iPhone line was. It is more secluded and mall security was concerned about a long line to disrupt traffic flow.

  • iPhone line in Louisville, Kentucky at the AT&T store at The Summit

    The sign on the right that says "Please wait here for assistance" is where the line started.

  • iPhone line in Louisville, Kentucky at the AT&T store at The Summit

    Here's a look at the first two guys in line.

  • iPhone line in Louisville, Kentucky at the AT&T store at The Summit

    This was the line at about 3:30 PM EST on Friday, June 29.

  • TechRepublic's Jason Hiner at the iPhone line in Louisville, Kentucky at the AT&T store at The Summit

    Here I am in position number 20 in line. I arrived at about 3:00 PM on Friday, June 29. I was able to pick up a WiFi signal from Starbucks (connect ing via iPass) and publish a blog post from my seat here in line.

  • iPhone line in Louisville, Kentucky at the AT&T store at The Summit

    If you look to the left you can see the Starbucks. I'm glad they were close by so that I could grab a WiFi signal from them.

  • Police and security at the iPhone line in Louisville, Kentucky at the AT&T store at The Summit

    A Louisville police office and a mall security official confer in front of the AT&T store. Mall security stopped people from lining up on Thursday night and early Friday morning. By noon on Friday, they finally gave in and worked with the AT&T store on an arrangement to allow iPhone lunatics (a.k.a. buyers) to start their line.

  • iPhone line in Louisville, Kentucky at the AT&T store at The Summit

    By 5:45 PM, the people in line had packed up their stuff and stood ready to enter the store and purchase one of the most hyped technology products of 2007.

  • iPhone line in Louisville, Kentucky at the AT&T store at The Summit

  • iPhone line in Louisville, Kentucky at the AT&T store at The Summit

  • iPhone line in Louisville, Kentucky at the AT&T store at The Summit

  • iPhone hopefuls trying for an 8 GB model

    These three were right behind me in line and they were all hoping to purchase an 8 GB iPhone. If they couldn't get an 8 GB model then none of them planned to buy a 4 GB model, but would simply search for an 8 GB at another store (several of them starting calling other stores from the line) or put one on order with AT&T.

  • The people at the end of the iPhone line in Louisville, Kentucky

    These were the folks at the end of the line. The guy on the far left in the black shirt was the last person guaranteed an iPhone. However, the other had the option to put in an order or possibly get a 4 GB model if some of the store ran out of 8s and some of the people in front of them decided not to a buy a 4.

  • First in line for the iPhone at the AT&T store at The Summit in Louisville, Kentucky

    Here the first guy in line is mintues away from getting his hands on the iPhone.

  • iPhone line in Louisville, Kentucky at the AT&T store at The Summit

    AT&T locked the door to the second entrance and put up a sign to let people know that they had to come around to the other side.

  • iPhone line in Louisville, Kentucky at the AT&T store at The Summit

    I'm sure there were people who thought they were going to walk right into this entrance and buy an iPhone before they saw the sign.

  • iPhone line in Louisville, Kentucky at the AT&T store at The Summit

    Once they let people in the other entrance at 6:00, the AT&T staffers immediate filled up the store and every employee started filling out orders.

  • iPhone line in Louisville, Kentucky at the AT&T store at The Summit

    The AT&T store closed at 4:30 PM and then reopened at 6:00 PM to start selling iPhones. During that time, they did some training with staff and set up iPhone displays like this one, which had a demo running on the screen in the middle and three functioning iPhones for people to test out.

  • iPhone line in Louisville, Kentucky at the AT&T store at The Summit

  • iPhone line in Louisville, Kentucky at the AT&T store at The Summit

    This guy and his son (I think) behind him were second in line and they came out and showed their iPhone bag to the people in line.

  • iPhone line in Louisville, Kentucky at the AT&T store at The Summit

    They bought a lot of iPhone accessories and also showed those to the people in line.

  • iPhone line in Louisville, Kentucky at the AT&T store at The Summit

    This guy not only showed off his sealed AT&T iPhone bag (as soon as you break the seal you have to pay a 10ò0stocking fee if you return the iPhone), but he also took his iPhone out of the bag and opened it up to show people in line. He even let some people hold his new phone, which shocked and amazed some of the people who were waiting.

  • iPhone line in Manhattan at the glass Apple store on Fifth Avenue

    Greg Packer (left), and David Clayman were the first in line to buy an iPhone at Manhattan's Apple store. Packer is a retired highway maintenance worker from Huntington, N.Y who wants to be the first to get the hottest gadget. He's a veteran of the PlayStation 3 wait.

    Clayman doesn't really want an iPhone but wants to experience waiting in line and blogging about it. He plans to buy the iPhone and then sell it and donate the proceeds to the Taproot Foundation.

    Photo by Caroline McCarthy/CNET News.com

  • iPhone line in Manhattan at the glass Apple store on Fifth Avenue

    The Fifth Avenue Apple store had six people in line as of Tuesday night. First-in-liner Greg Packer was asleep, but second-mate David Clayman was wide awake and said that he was approaching his all-time record for the least amount of sleep in a given amount of time.

    Photo by Caroline McCarthy/CNET News.com

  • iPhone line in Manhattan at the glass Apple store on Fifth Avenue

    At 4:00 PM EDT on Tuesday (June 26), the line at the Fifth Avenue Apple store swelled to six. Greg Packer (left) was the proverbial "first guy in line" The other was Jessica Rodriguez, who showed up at about 10:00 AM and is hoping to score an iPhone for her sister's birthday--and one for herself if she can nab two.

    Photo by Caroline McCarthy/CNET News.com

  • Hot dogs for the iPhone line

    For food at the Manahattan iPhone line, there was a hot dog stand as well as a ubiquitous Mr. Softee truck on the corner. The 24-hour Apple store has bathrooms, not to mention computers with e-mail access.

    Photo by Caroline McCarthy/CNET News.com

  • Messy living in the iPhone line

    Wanted: Maid service for these (temporary) living quarters.

    Photo by Caroline McCarthy/CNET News.com

  • The iPhone line at the Apple store in SoHo in Manhattan

    On Tuesday (June 26), a line began to form in front of the Apple store in the shopping-heavy SoHo neighborhood. The three in line work for the advertising agency Anomaly, which represents the nonprofit organization Keep a Child Alive. They planned to put the phones on sale on eBay and donate the proceeds to the foundation. CNET News.com's New York City reporter, Caroline McCarthy, was in line watching until the first iPhone was sold Friday evening.

    Photo by Caroline McCarthy/CNET News.com

  • The iPhone line at the Apple store in SoHo in Manhattan

  • The iPhone line at the Apple store in SoHo in Manhattan

  • The iPhone line at the Apple store in SoHo in Manhattan

  • The iPhone line at the Apple store in SoHo in Manhattan

  • iPhone store in downtown San Francisco

    The Apple store in downtown San Francisco was the site of frenzied activity on June 29, iPhone release day. In San Francisco, some were calling the iPhone the most hyped product in tech history.

    Photo by CNET News.com

  • A photo before the iPhone launch

    A day before the launch of the iPhone, a curious passerby snaps a photo of the product's display in the window of the Apple store in downtown San Francisco.

    Photo by CNET News.com

  • Start of the iPhone line in San Francisco

    Though lines were forming in New York City for several days, as of Thursday morning (June 28), it was fairly quiet outside the San Francisco Apple store. Here, a lone consumer lines up by the door, first in line.

    Photo by CNET News.com

  • No line on Thursday at downtown San Francisco AT&T store

    Thursday morning (June 28), at an AT&T store along San Francisco's Market Street, there was no line and just one poster advertising the iPhone hung in the window.

    Photo by CNET News.com

  • The iPhone line at the Apple store in downtown San Francisco

    About 100 people were lined up in front of the downtown San Francisco Apple store Friday morning, awaiting the 6 p.m. launch of the iPhone. Only about 15 or so were in line the night before, but momentum started building in front of Apple's flagship store on Friday morning.

    Photo by CNET News.com

  • The iPhone line at the Apple store in downtown San Francisco

    Anita, a San Francisco resident, was about 12th in line. Her son held her place in line starting Thursday afternoon until about 2 a.m. Friday, when Anita and her husband stepped in. She was planning to buy two, one for herself and one for her husband, who she said has been going crazy since he saw the first iPhone ads.

    Photo by CNET News.com

  • The iPhone line at the Apple store in downtown San Francisco

    It was a long night outside Apple's store on the corner of Stockton and Ellis streets in San Francisco. Blankets and coffee were the fixtures outside most makeshift campsites. (How can you sleep with the No. 30 bus stopping a foot from your head every few minutes?)

    Photo by CNET News.com

  • The iPhone line at the Apple store in downtown San Francisco

    The front of the line outside the Apple store. Jerry Taylor was sleeping in his tent, apparently unable to sell his spot in line just yet. Right behind him are the guys and gals from Slide.com.

    Photo by CNET News.com

  • The iPhone line at the Apple store in downtown San Francisco

    J. Martin and Amanda Rybarczykhad had been waiting in line outside the Apple store when they realized they could head over to the AT&T store at Third and Market streets, just a few blocks away. They grabbed the pole position at this store, which had about eight people in line at 8:45 a.m. on Friday. Neither of these two planned to keep the iPhone, as "we're poor college students" at San Francisco State University. They were looking either to trade on their place in line or sell the iPhone on eBay.

    Photo by CNET News.com

  • The iPhone line at the Apple store in downtown San Francisco

    It's not an event in San Francisco if Frank Chu doesn't show up. Chu, who is famous for his picket signs full of strange messages, stood in front of the San Francisco Apple store.

    Photo by CNET News.com

  • The iPhone line at the Apple store in downtown San Francisco

    Apparently, the Apple store was only keeping track of the first 25 or so people in line, so the line waiters took matters into their own hands and created a "community list" of everyone in the queue so that no one would be skipped and so no one could cut.

    Photo by CNET News.com

iPhone line in Louisville, Kentucky at the AT&T store at The Summit

by Jason Hiner

Like everyone else (except for a select few like the New York Times and Wall Street Journal), TechRepublic had to wait in line for an iPhone on June 29.

I waited in line at the AT&T store at The Summit, an open-air shopping mall a few miles away from the TechRepublic office in Louisville, Kentucky.

Here are the pictures from the line in Louisville as well as photos from New York and San Francisco taken by my colleagues here at CNET Networks.
Related Topics:
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By Jason Hiner

Jason Hiner is Editorial Director of CNET and former Editor in Chief of TechRepublic. He's co-author of the book, Follow the Geeks.

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