iPhone Friday

Well....today was iPhone Friday! I arrived promptly at the store at 6:10 this morning. There were 21 people and a Chocolate Lab in front of me. (sigh) So I took a seat on the closest bench to my place in line and waited.

At 7 am, there were about 15 people behind me when the store manager came out and proclaimed - "Folks....I only have 20 phones today." (gulp) "Twenty phones?" we gasped, "Only twenty?" "That's right.....only twenty." he said. I started my count again of the crowd in front of me to make sure I was not wrong. I wasn't wrong. I was 22 - 23 counting the dog.

I shouted out to the folks in front of me - some of which spent the night in front of the damn store - "How many of you are actually buying a phone today?". Hands began to raise and some of those folks with them did not raise their hands. They were there for the thrill of this I suppose. I counted again - 5, 10, 14 and I was 15! I had a chance! Maybe I wouldn't have to order one and wait ten more days! My heart started beating rapidly and my mouth got dry.

"Ok".......said a gentlemen in front of me. "How many of you want the 8 GB phone and how many of you want the 16 GB phone?" The hands and the shout outs began again. There were ten people in front of me who wanted one of the ten 16 GB phones. (sigh) I would have to order one because I wanted a 16 GB phone and was not content in settling for something less.

Undaunted, I waited my turn in line from 8am to 9am and then went in and placed my order for a Black 16 GB iPhone. I even bought myself a nifty iPhone holder for my belt for when this new little toy arrives in 10 days.

Yes I know. Who stands in front of a store two hours before it opens? Well....I do, but at least I didn't camp out. Although.....if I had I would be blogging tonight from my iPhone and not from my PC. Who knew the store would only be given 20 phones? I was expecting them to get 50! From what I hear, the store I was standing in front of was one of the shorter lines. In Kentucky, the nearest store had 75 people standing out front and some of them started their "campout" at 5pm the previous day!!

Again.....ya gotta know me. I love electronic gadgets. It is an adrenaline rush for me to hold one of these iPhones in my hand. I break out into a sweat and my heart beats rapidly. This is the most exciting little gadget that I have seen in a long while. It can do some amazing things and it is truly fun to use.

So while I am a bit disappointed that it is not in my hot little hands right at this moment, I know that I only have to wait a little while longer to enjoy it. For those of you who were able to get one today, don't leave it lying around anywhere.....I have nine more days to go!

iPhone week

In the last few weeks I have noticed a huge spike in visitors to my blog. Primarily it was from folks looking for more information about the next iPhone release. Now that it is set to release on Friday, my site hits have dropped off.

What is it about technology these days that have people in a complete tailspin? I often wonder if society was this manic when televisions first arrived in stores. I mean....there were those who could afford one and those who could not but did people actually plant themselves outside their local department store just to wait for the store to open so they could be the first to buy one? Did it make newspaper headlines - 200 storm Sears to buy television

Of course, I don't know what those times were like since it happened well before I was born. I take TV for granted these days. I mean....B & W sets are my earliest recollection. In fact, my Pong game utilized a little set that we kept in the kitchen. Now Pong.....and Atari games are called "Classics" and are quite the fad to those of us who remember them fondly.

On Friday, I will be going into work a little later so that I can purchase my first iPhone. I can't say at this point if it will be my last iPhone because the gadget is sooo fun to use. I spent about 20 minutes in the store on Saturday trying out the previous version. I was tickled and completely in love with the thing. I am sure it was the same feeling felt by many others decades ago with the television.

Have any of you considered getting an iPhone? If so, why and if not, why not?

New iPhone - June 2008?

If anyone is following the iPhone craze, it should be noted that the first release of the iPhone was reliant on the old 2G (2nd generation) internet technology. 3G has been on the market for some time with various carriers besides AT&T, but not available on the first version of the iPhone.

What does this mean to you? Faster internet connections with the new 3G technology will make the iPhone more of a pleasure to use. However, you can gain more speed if you are using WIFI so there are some advantages right now by using it wherever WIFI is available (Starbucks, Panera, etc) but the real advantage will be when the new iPhone is available.

By the way......the iPhone you are using now will not utilize the 3G technology. Just another reason to always buy the 2nd or 3rd generation of new technology so you are not obsolete shortly after making your expensive purchase.

I have been holding out on upgrading my Treo because of the release of a better iPhone so hopefully I will not have to wait much longer.

Below is the CNBC snippet about the possible release of iPhone 3G in June 2008.

iPhone - CNBC