Wait Over, Let the Calls Begin on iPhone
By Madhusmita Bora, St. Petersburg Times, Fla.
Jun. 30–TAMPA — It received a welcome befitting a rock star.
Amid cheers, applause and sighing, the shiny, sleek iPhone hailed by some enthusiasts as the Jesus phone finally made its appearance at 6 p.m. Friday in Apple stores and outlets for AT&T, the phone’s exclusive carrier.
The debut ends six months of speculation, hype and longing for the latest must-have, cutting-edge piece of techno-wizardry.
“I survived I-day,” pronounced a beaming Sujay Vasant, 17, of Sarasota, who traveled all the way to an Apple store at International Plaza for the long wait.
He held up a small black Apple bag containing his prized possession, but refused to rush into that first touch.
“I’m gonna go home, take a shower, worship and then hold it with my clean hands,” he said. “It’s such a relief.”
Not everyone could be as patient. St. Petersburg tech-fanatic Nick Starr, who became the first at International Plaza to own the venerable gizmo, instantly ripped open its package.
“It’s pretty darn cool,” he said, as he juggled images on the shiny screen playing music, taking pictures and zooming in on Google Maps. “It marks the dawn of change in the way cell phones are made.”
In a scene replicated at Apple stores nationwide, the countdown to the final minute was timed by two large prototypes of the phone set in a front store display. As the gates opened, the relief was evident.
“My feet are elevated, my body is ready to go to sleep,” said Mirlene Belcher, 23, of Tampa, who stood in line for 10 hours to buy a phone for her boyfriend.
Compared to some, she had it easy.
In New York City, lines began forming Tuesday. In the Tampa Bay area, the first customer showed up Thursday morning outside an AT&T store on N Dale Mabry. The International Plaza, which houses the only Apple store in the region, allowed customers to line up Thursday at 7 p.m.
Apple is banking that its new, do-everything phone with a touch-sensitive screen will become its third core business next to its moneymaking iPod music players and Macintosh computers. But its media blitz wasn’t without its glitches.
On NBC’s Today show, co-host Meredith Vieira ran into problems trying to get the iPhone to work.
The iPhone has been the focus of endless anticipatory chatter and parodied on late-night TV. Since its unveiling in January, expectations that it will become another blockbuster product for Apple has pushed the company’s stock up more than 40 percent.
Apple aims to sell 10-million units worldwide by 2008, gaining roughly a 1 percent share of the cell phone market. It’s expected to go on sale in Europe later this year and in Asia in 2008.
Fans on Friday ran the gamut. In Tampa, the youngest in line was 4-month-old Mackayley Harkins, who was sleeping in the arms of her mother, Jodi Harkins.
Throughout the day, Apple periodically served water and coffee to those in line outside the Tampa store. It also handed out lunch coupons.
For some, the wait added up to sheer profit. Carla Brett and her friend Christina Ungstad were paid $20 an hour to wait in line to buy phones for Brett’s boss and his mother. “We are longing for the long hours,” she said.
Then there was Jay Needham. The 25-year-old Salvation Army employee stood in line so he could sell his phone on eBay to help pay for his honeymoon to the Dominican Republic this fall.
“It’s (the iPhone) too much for me to pay for,” he said. “Besides, I wouldn’t know how to use it anyway.”
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
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