Three Days to Apple iPhone Launch - June 29 Liftoff

Jessica Rodriguez joins the line to purchase an iPhone in front of an Apple store on Tuesday, June 26, 2007 in New York. The much-promoted mobile phone from Apple goes on sale Friday in U.S. markets. For Jessica Rodriguez, waiting four days for an iPhone is nothing when the prize is "the next big thing."

On Tuesday, Rodriguez became the fourth person to line up outside Apple Inc.'s Fifth Avenue store in New York. The 24-year-old college student wants to get a belated birthday gift for her sister as soon as the iPhone starts selling Friday evening.
"Words can't express why I want an iPhone," Rodriguez said, sitting in a red folding chair she brought. "The main reason is (Apple CEO) Steve Jobs is a genius. He's a great innovator. It's going to be the next big thing in cell phones."
The three people ahead of her all joined the queue Monday, braving temperatures that reached 90 degrees. Their spirits weren't dampened by forecasts for thunderstorms later in the week and remarks such as "Crazy, people are just absolutely crazy" by one passer-by.
David Clayman, 21, on vacation from Chicago, happened to walk by and decided to change his travel plans on the spot, extending his trip by a day. He hopes to buy three phones: One to raise money for charity; one as an early birthday gift for his dad, who turns 50 on Saturday; and a third for himself.
....
Those features interest Eric Mueller, 45, a graphic designer who joined the line after dropping off materials for a client nearby.
He said he looks forward to better compatibility with Apple's Macintosh computers, complaining that the Bluetooth wireless connection on his Samsung Electronics Co. phone hardly works with Macs.
But Mueller said he might not last until Friday, saying every hour waiting for a phone is an hour away from serving his clients. Others, though, were willing to tough it out.....
"I've met some incredible people waiting on line," Clayman said. "When are you going to get an experience like this?".....

New Yorkers have a reputation for being a hearty lot, and those who want to be among the first to buy an iPhone on Friday seem to be made of a particularly tough constitution. Despite temperatures that soared above 90 degrees today, several were already lined up outside the Apple Store on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.
The leader of the pack was Greg Packer, 43, a retired highway maintenance worker from Huntington, N.Y., on Long Island. Packer lugged his supplies, which included water and clothes, and set up a camping chair on the street outside the store on Fifth Avenue at 5 a.m. Monday so he could be the first in line for Apple Inc.'s latest gadget.
Though he's committed himself to spending nearly five days living on the street for the iPhone, he's not "computer literate" and doesn't own an iPod. Packer said "I'm not really a technology person, but I'm doing the best I can to keep up with technology," he said.
However, two of his favorite things are music and the phone, so Packer, who said he has camped out early for concert tickets and sporting events in the past, wanted to be first in line to get the product that combines the two and provides Internet access at his fingertips. "I want to see what it's like," he said. "I want to give my review of it."
Packer isn't the only one consumed with iPhone fever. At 2 p.m. today three people with chairs were in line behind him, and a fifth person said he was joining the queue while Packer was being interviewed. (That move seemed unlikely, however, since the man was dressed in casual business attire and had no supplies or other equipment that one might have for a four-day camping excursion on a New York street.).....

Johnny Vulcan started the queue outside Apple's store in Manhattan's SoHo district at 7 a.m. today. He's trying to raise awareness for Keep a Child Alive, a charity that treats children with AIDS in Africa. The group plans to auction the device on EBay and said one of its celebrity ambassadors will hand-deliver it to the winning bidder.
Service Plans
Apple will sell the iPhone at 162 stores. The company said today it will close the doors at 2 p.m. that day to prepare for the debut and then reopen four hours later. AT&T, which will offer the gadget at 1,800 company-owned outlets, said its stores will be closed for 90 minutes before the iPhone goes on sale.
The iPhone will come in two versions: a $499, 4-gigabyte model and a $599, 8-gigabyte version. Both require a two-year service plan with AT&T Inc. San Antonio-based AT&T said today that plans will cost about $60 to $220 a month.
"I'll probably get the world's worst sunburn,'' said Eric Mueller, a graphic designer from Harlem who's fifth in line at the Fifth Avenue store, the only Apple outlet that's open 24 hours a day. "But it's exciting to be part of it.''
For others, it's about earning some extra cash. John May, a college student in Vallejo, California, has offered to stand in line for $250 for a potential iPhone buyer. He'll wait at an Apple store in Vallejo or Walnut Creek. Although no one has responded to his ad on Craigslist, May said he'll still join the line for latecomers.
"It seems like an easy way to make cash,'' said May, 18, who said his dad gave him the idea. "It's crazy.''

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is one of the top 20 innovators of The Innovation Index, and is the Number One Innovator for 2007 as per the rankings of the Top 50 Innovative Companies in the world by BusinessWeek.

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Bottomline:
Fans are beginning to clamor for the brand new Apple iPhone which is due out at 6:00 p.m. on June 29. The lines will only get bigger by June 29 morning, and expect dozens to hundreds of anxious buyers waiting outside the key Apple and AT&T stores to try and buy the iPhone. Even the $59.99 monthly plan that includes 450 minutes and unlimited data services among other features will not deter the die-hard Apple aficionados. Most analysts are predicting 100,000 to 200,000 iPhone unit sales by June 30. If you cannot wait for the iPhone, don't want to stand in line for days or hours, and are searching for an alternative, check this review of iPhone competitors by Marketwatch: Wireless device makers target iPhone crowd - LG, Nokia and target high-end users, but devices lack carrier support.

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References:
Customers line up for iPhone launch
By ANICK JESDANUN
AP INTERNET WRITER
New Yorkers camp out for iPhone despite summer heat
IPhone fever takes hold in the Big Apple