We spent a few moments talking to some of the 75 or so people waiting in line in Manhattan for something they were calling an "iPhone." "iSmarter" New Yorkers apparently avoided the hassle of the Apple Mega Circus and waited in a more genteel way at the 86th street AT&T store between 2nd and 3rd avenues.

We decided to track the purchase process by following two iPhone devotees, Mark Hall and Lee Bonano (a Dslreports.com user), who avoided multi-day camping and queued in the line at 9:30 this morning. At 4:30 this afternoon, the line was only about 50 people deep.

Amazing when you consider the blocks-long line in midtown at the Apple Store. The well-geared Hall and Bonano called the line almost "pleasant", with no Ebayers, paid place holders, or fist fights. Some were confused why the two were camped in front of Burger King, thus the sign.

Less fun was the purchasing process; a clunky affair whereby only a few people were allowed in the store at a time. The first ten in line went in promptly at 6:00 p.m. – and the rest were asked to wait. There was a brief moment of panic when it looked like the server had crashed – all of those credit checks hitting the system at the same time.

When we left Bonano and Hall with iPhones happily clutched in their hands (un-activated until they're taken home to iTunes), there were still a significant number of people waiting for their turn in line.




Meanwhile, some odd iPhone blurbs we've seen in the unavoidable and deafening wall of coverage today:

•Philly's Mayor spent today in line for an iPhone, until someone asked him why he wasn't working.•Perp steals Fox News reporter's mic on live TV, then unsuprisingly gets busted.•Verizon's answer to the iPhone: uh, guys -- we're open until 9pm.•First person in line at the San Francisco store doesn't actually know what she's waiting for.•Americans get EDGE, Europeans get HSDPA.•The Today Show host can't answer iPhone•The iPhone cake.•Stephen Colbert reviews the iPhone.•The Woz turns down special Steve Jobs treatment, slums it with the rest of us.

iPhone fan or not it's Friday, so empty your head (or iPhone impressions, line shots, unpacking shots or downright venomous "For the love of God it's just a @#$!@! phone" rants) into the comment section below.