Apple iPhone launch draws gadget geeks, hired help

Kristian Gundersen flew from Norway to New York to be among the first people to buy Apple's media-playing iPhone. He described the day as one of the best of his life.

"It's a dream come true. ... It's Christmas, birthday, New Year's all rolled into one," said the 23-year-old graphic designer who lined up for nearly 12 hours to buy the music and video playing phone.

"I'm a Mac addict," he said, referring to Apple Inc.'s trademark computers. "I got on a 10-hour line for the 'Lord of the Rings' (movie), but it is nothing compared to this. This is a historic event."

Gundersen was among several thousand people who lined up -- some for up to five days -- outside U.S. Apple stores and outlets of AT&T, the exclusive iPhone carrier for the next two years. Stores opened at 6 p.m. local time in each U.S. time zone.

The iPhone melds a phone, Web browser and media player and costs $500 or $600, depending on the amount of memory.

Technology gurus have praised the gadget as a "breakthrough", but questioned whether people would be put off by its use of a smooth touch-screen instead of a keyboard, and its relatively slow Internet connection.

Albert Livingstone's wife thought he was crazy for lining up overnight in Chicago outside the Apple store.

"It's the newest toy. I'm 62 -- I don't have much time left to buy toys," said Livingstone, who stood in line with his friend Mark Stevenson, 50. They rented a room across the street and took turns to sleep.

But not everyone could understand the excitement.

"It's just a phone!" a San Francisco construction worker, driving by the Apple store in his pick-up truck, yelled at the waiting crowd.

Despite a limit of two iPhones per person, Grant Johnson, 41, managed to get his hands on three when the doors opened at the Apple store on New York's Fifth Avenue. He had asked a girl in front of him to buy an extra one.

"I'm keeping one and selling the other two, I'm trying to get $1200 for them," said Johnson, who had queued up for 25 hours. "I haven't slept in a day and a half," he said. "I need a nice hot shower and a bath."

"WE STINK"

On a mild summer's day in Chicago, 50-year-old business consultant James Budd joined the line at dawn to buy an iPhone for himself and for his 95-year-old grandmother because he hoped it would be "simple enough" for her to use.

But other high-flying professionals who couldn't escape work paid others to do it for them.

A tongue-in-cheek Citigroup research note on Apple even gave tips on how "to obtain an iPhone ASAP on Friday," advising clients to "send whoever is the newest and most junior at your firm to stand in line."

Young entrepreneurs sought to make a quick buck.

In Walnut Creek, California, a group of college students arrived at the Apple store at dawn on Wednesday to nab the first 10 spots to sell on Web site www.iwait.org.

"We're exhausted, we're having trouble speaking -- and we stink," said 18-year-old organizer Josh May.

Terry Austin, a 23-year-old New Yorker, waited in line for 27 hours outside Apple in New York.

"I feel good, it was fun," he said when he walked out clutching his purchase. When asked if it was worth it, he answered: "We'll find out."
Source :http://in.today.reuters.com/