Apple Store Lines:Waiting for iPhone 4S ~ Information of New Stuff

“What a tourist trap,” muttered one man in a suit to another as he passed the large crowd in front of New York City’s flagship Apple store on Friday morning.

Moments later, a petite woman with gray hair broke from her jog as she passed the barricaded crowd — some of whom had been waiting in line to buy the iPhone 4S since Sept. 27. “Why don’t you get a life?” she yelled.

It’s true that the people who spent hours in a line so large that it requires dedicated crowd control are, in some ways, wasting their time. AT&T, Verizon and Sprint stores — which also started selling the new iPhone Friday — had small lines and no camping gear in front of them this morning. Most people waiting in the long line at the flagship Apple Store will probably receive their phones later than those who sauntered into non-Apple stores around 8 a.m.

But nobody in the line seemed to care about the practicality of the situation. Here’s what doesn’t happen at the AT&T store: Every major broadcasting channel does not show up. Nobody hands out beach balls. And it’s less likely that someone will show up with live animals in hopes of promoting their startup. There is no crowd countdown to the store’s opening, and no happy group of uniformed twenty-somethings to line your path as you enter the store, cheering you on as though your intent to buy a phone is a major accomplishment.
Nobody will sponsor you to hang out in front of the AT&T store, as Gazelle has sponsored the New York City 5th Avenue store’s first in line.

As line leaders emerged from the Apple with blue bags in hand around 8 a.m., they all said it was worth it.