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It was around 5 a.m. Friday, and Andrea Odle couldn’t sleep. Lying in bed, she just stared at the ceiling, thinking about the iPhone 3G.
She and her husband, Randy, a teacher at McCallie School, originally had planned to get in line by 6:30 a.m.
But since Mrs. Odle was wide awake and they had already arranged for her mother to watch their young children, they got up early and secured their spots as Nos. 24 and 25 in a line that was quickly growing outside the AT&T store on Gunbarrel Road.
The couple was among thousands of people in Chattanooga and around the world who waited in lines for the chance to be the first to spend big bucks on Apple’s newest must-have gadget.
Staff Photo by Margaret Fenton -- The line of shoppers waiting for the release of the iPhone 3G wrapped around the At&t parking lot this morning before the store opened at 8 a.m. The first peson in line had been there since 9:30 p.m. Thursday.
The second-generation iPhone, cheaper and faster than the original, went on sale at 8 a.m. in Chattanooga, with about 100 people waiting in a line that stretched onto the sidewalk down Gunbarrel Road.
The new iPhone improves on the original by adding GPS and 3G technology, which means faster Internet speeds, fewer dropped calls and better reception. Chattanooga got 3G service in recent weeks as part of AT&T’s roll-out prior to the iPhone 3G’s release.
Two models of the iPhone 3G hit stores a different prices — an 8GB model for $199 and a 16GB for $299. Prices varied depending on customers’ current service plans and carriers, but AT&T worked hard in the weeks approaching Friday’s release so customers would know what they wanted when they came in the door, hopefully keeping transaction times short.
The phones sold out in Chattanooga just before noon, said Arlie Mimbela, area sales manager for AT&T. In the staff meeting held before the doors opened, the plan was to keep transactions to 15 minutes, but systemwide delays kept employees from meeting that goal, he said.
This year’s crowd seemed bigger compared to the number who came out for the launch of the original iPhone in 2007, Mr. Mimbela said.
“I expected a lot of people, but not this many,” he said.
Many had been waiting since the wee hours of the morning, but Andrew Shaw, the first in line, said he had been sitting there since 9:30 p.m. Thursday. He had brought a camp chair, and his wife of one week brought him dinner from Olive Garden.
“It’s going to be a great day,” said Mr. Shaw, 22, who seemed weary from the all-nighter.
Chris Bethel was fourth in line when the doors opened, and was met with applause as he walked out with the first iPhone sold at the store. As he left the store with a big grin on his face, he handed his brand new gadget off to the others in line for a first look.
“I’ve been here since 3 in the morning,” he said. “It’s so worth it.”
As the morning progressed, the line of eager shoppers remained long, with about 75 to 80 people still in line at 10:30 a.m. Store employees passed out bottled water to keep the anxious crowd content.
Overall, Mr. Mimbela said he was pleased with the way things had gone at the store, which has the largest sales volume of any of his stores in Chattanooga and Nashville.
Except for some problems with iTunes that slowed down transactions, the morning went smoothly, he said.
Those slowdowns began occurring around 9 a.m., which Mr. Mimbela said had been expected because stores in the Central Time Zone began using the system at that time.
James Fedusenko, 24, was second in line when the doors opened Friday morning, but was not immune from the problems. He had gotten there at 2 a.m. after driving by a few times to see if a line was building. Once he saw Mr. Shaw’s car in the lot, he and friend Derek Sherbondy got a tent, blankets and a spot at the front of the line.
Because of some problems, it took about an hour to get his iPhone running properly, he said. But, experiencing the hype and all of the excitement involved in being one of the first to have a phone was worth all he went through, Mr. Fedusenko said.
“It’s fun, that’s a big part of it,” he said. “It’s like movie premiere.”
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Comments
For the record, Chris Bethel was fifth in line. Charles Ellsworth was fourth. I am in the video for a split second (note that I am standing in front of Chris). I was wearing a white shirt and tan cap. I was there at 2AM. Once I got in the store, I would say I was out of the store in 15 minutes or less. There was a nice group of people in line and the experience was worth it.
However, I ended up with an iBrick until 6pm, when I finally activated my phone at home. iTunes was bogged down. Can't blame Apple after a 1 million sellout in the first day and everyone is trying to activate it through iTunes.
After what seemed like an eternity of waiting, I was impressed with my new gadget and quickly forgot about my phone not working. It's way better than any phone out there, even the old iPhone. Reflecting on when I have stopped to look at other model phones and they say its a contendor to compete with the iPhone - not even close. Apple has succeeded in setting the bar even higher. I would go so far as to say that they are untouchable because Apple has put so many groundbreaking technologies into one device THAT WORK flawlessly.
I didn't think that fourth place would get mentioned, but when I saw the error, I just had to say something.
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