800 feet in 13 hours for an iPhone - and worth it!

I tried ordering my iPhone4 on the first days of pre-orders, but due to system overload on their end, I couldn't do it. Next time I tried, they were backlogged until 7/24, so I thought I'd take my chances at the Sacramento Apple Store (I think I'll try Roseville next time). Quite the adventure...

When I called, they said they'd be open at 7, and the mall itself opens at 6. When I got there at 6, there were already 400 or 500 folks in line! Around 8AM, they said it would probably take another three hours. I finally walked out of the store at 8PM.

Worth it? Of course not, by any logical, non-Kool Aid based standards.

I've still been using my original version 1, and was looking forward to some of the new features, but mostly hoping to take advantage of a stronger 3G signal. Alas, out in the sticks where I live, reception is pretty poor, we're right at the edge of their coverage map (literally). I can get 3G up on the street, but not when I walk down the hill to my office. But reception is better, and the sound quality is much improved. The standing joke around here is that the iPhone has many wonderful and transformative features, and oh yeah, you can also use it as a phone sometimes. My opinion is that AT&T is 90% of the problem. It's a good phone when I get to a city, though (except NYC and SF during any kind of geek events). I have to agree with Marc Hedlund that upgrading is sending a vote to AT&T that they are OK - even though they really stink. But whatcha gonna do? I was hoping Verizon would be selling iPhones by now; not that Verizon is much of an improvement, but at least its some competition.

So why bother? I didn't get an iPhone when they were first introduced, but a friend explained it to me in a few minutes and I suddenly "got it" - it isn't just a phone, and it isn't really a computer, but it seems to overlap both devices and provides functions that greaty simplify many of the phone/network related tasks I do all the time. If you have one, you know what I mean, and if you don't it becomes clear very quickly.

My main motivation originally was to get a glimpse of how things were going to change for users and developers. Apple seems to get things right, rarely compromising on high standards of usability and design, so I figured iPhone would show me a better idea of the future - and I haven't been disappointed.

But 13 hours in line for a stupid phone? Wasn't really so bad - lots of interesting folks were also waiting, and I love discussing user experiences with smart folks. I had time to read The American Way of Death: Revisited, by Jessica Mitford (a new edition of one of the seminal consumer books of the sixties), and even do a little Drupal hacking on my Macbook. Probably could have watched a few movies too. And Apple tried to do the right thing - delicious burritos were distributed every few hours, along with water and iced coffee. Once in the store, I was treated like an honored guest and given the kind of exceptional customer experience only Apple seems to be able to pull off these days - smart folks, very well informed on the products, and extraordinarily helpful down to the smallest detail. Darn, they do a good job! And everyone had a very positive attitude, and they'd also all been up since 5AM, on what must have been quite a stressful day for them. Hmm, I'm starting to sound like somebody with Stockholm Syndrome, but I do appreciate the way they run their store.

As a developer, I'm particularly interested in what new features the new phone has, and how they might affect the way people use mobile devices. Facetime and Compass are quite impressive, and are just a starting point for how their second camera and expanded gyro system are going to change a lot of rules.

I wouldn't call myself a fanboy; there are some things about Apple I'm not crazy about. But there is something inspirational about products that combine both superb engineering and a dedication to great design. One of the things I've noticed over the last few years at developer conferences is how the Macbook has become the computer of choice. It's more than just "anything but Windows", or the fact the OS is Unix under a superb UI. I like the idea of Linux, but in rel life, I've found it to be just as fussy as Windows, and as hard to configure. The Apple stuff just works, much fewer distractions. Good for them; competition is always a good thing, and they've raised the bar considerably.

And by the way, I can also make phone calls with my new iPhone. <g>