Could there ever be a cell phone that is worth sleeping outside all night to get your hands on? I suppose the answer depends on to whom the hands belong. In my case, I decided to camp out at the 3rd Street Promenade to ensure that I would get my hands on the little gem and to experience 12 hours of complete and utter Geekness. I wasn’t disappointed.
At first arrival at the 3rd Street Apple store, I could immediately see that I would be in good company. People were lined up with full camping gear, tents, coolers full of, um, soda, and the like. I think the homeless in Santa Monica thought that they had some new rich neighbors.
Many people also brought with them, believe it or not, their Apple Laptop computers. But alas, on a full night campout, everyone would surely run the batteries down, right? Wrong! Score the big point for the geeks – because we, er, they, found a way to get their computers plugged in and charging all night long. You know how the trees in the promenade have those pretty lights wrapped around them? Well, one smart dude climbed up a tree, unplugged the lights and plugged in a power strip. Presto, and voila: Instant power for all!
Unlike some of the more experienced campers, the ones with sleeping bags, for example, I brought with me only my computer and two towels. One towel was for my rear and the other for my head. I figured this way I was set whether I lay down or sit up and lean. I did a little of both.
Apple Store employees, although they were on the other side of a dark curtain that hung in the windows of the Apple store, were up all night too. These folks were our gracious hosts and they lived up to the part. They came out every hour or so with bottles of water, and passed them out to the eager thirsty Iphone campers.
As the first signs of daylight started to show, the bottles of Smart ® water that they brought out for us turned to small shots of Starbucks ® coffee. Once again, our hosts didn’t disappoint. The coffee warmed and also gave everyone that little extra jolt they needed to remind them why they slept on the street that night.
The store opened the doors at 8a.m. sharp and started to let people in. Only 30 people were permitted inside at a time. I am proud to say, I was number 35 in the store. All in all, the wait for the Iphone in 2008 went smoothly. Unfortunately, what happened once we got inside the store…Well… That’s another article, another time.
Karl D. Susman
Westside Gadget Guy
www.twitter.com/karlwireless
