 58483323Gurt me
join:2003-06-23
Normal, IL | Fever for Apple iPhone runs tepid Today's the day, so where »www.suburbanchicagonews.com/news···.article
Local Paper
With less than 12 hours until the vaunted iPhone was to be unleashed on a waiting world, the sign posted outside the AT&T store on Grand Avenue Thursday night was more about anticipation than reality.
"iPhone Line Begins Here. Thank You."
Number of people in line as of 9:15 p.m. -- two. But they were a dedicated pair, having set up Eddie Bauer camp chairs and parked their car a few feet away for even more comfort.
» Click to enlarge image
Michael Schmidt ? mschmidt@scn1.com Unlike many outlets around the country, the AT&T store at 7075 Grand Ave. in Gurnee had no one waiting in line at noon Thursday to get an Apple iPhone.
» Click to enlarge image
"I can't wait to try it out," said Brad Lehigh of Wildwood, who was set to receive an iPhone from his mother, Fran, as an early and combined birthday and Christmas present.
While the Steve Jobs crowd has raved for months about the bells and whistles on the new $600 must-have device, Lehigh said he has a practical need for the world's first cellular phone with a touch-screen interface.
"One of my reasons for wanting it is I'm handicapped and have trouble using my hands," he said. "Since it has a touch-screen, I'm not going to have any problem using it ... Over the years, every cell phone I've had, the buttons are too small or just don't work for me at all. I had one phone that had one button with three functions, and I couldn't use it."
This in mind, Lehigh said his interest was spiked when he read about the iPhone.
"My last phone broke last year, so it was time for me to get a new one (and) I read about this one three months ago. I said, 'I'll wait and see what it does.' When I head about the glass touch-screen, I decided to get it."
Lehigh and his mother arrived at the Grand Avenue store around 5:30 p.m. and were planning to spend the night mostly in their sedan. They said other prospective line-participants had wandered by, but decided to come back later after seeing the low turnout.
The Gurnee store was planning to follow the same plan of action as other AT&T outlets today -- shut down at around 4:30 p.m. and reopen within 90 minutes for iPhone sales exclusively.
"The revolutionary iPhone (will) be launching at 6 p.m. on Friday," said an automated message on the store's direct line late Thursday. "We hope you visit us to share in the excitement."
While that invitation had yet to produce the lines seen along Grand Avenue just last fall for the latest in video game technology, Friday morning and afternoon might produce the "extraordinary demand" predicted by that outgoing message. |
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 intellerSociopaths always win.
join:2003-12-08
Tulsa, OK | there is nothing revolutionary about a 8Gb storage device running on a 2.5G network. this is yesterday's junk. |
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58483323Gurt me
join:2003-06-23
Normal, IL
1 edit | I agree. They're charging a revolutionary price ($500-600) for something that many phones can already do.
Hold up... this thing doesn't have IM?! |
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| Get ready?? Does it come with low jack?? if not get ready for them big eyes out there. |
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 MikePremium,Mod
join:2000-09-17
Pittsburgh, PA | reply to 58483323
Re: Fever for Apple iPhone runs tepid Today's the day, so where nope. apple didn't port ichat to ichat mobile. |
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