Whoopi Too

Yes, that's Whoopi Goldberg (two photos bottom left) getting her highly coveted iPhone a few minutes after the release of the new, heavily promoted device at the Apple Store in SOHO at 6 PM, Friday June 29th. People had camped out in line around the block outside the store as early as since Tuesday. Some had paid others as much as $150 to wait in line for them. This scenario was played out in Apple stores around the country. Two guys had set up a ping pong table to pass the time (upper right photo). There was cheering when UPS made their delivery in the morning. All manner of press was there with reporters doing interviews. The whole scene was sheer lunacy, since iPhones were readily available just hours later with no lines whatsoever. Apple employees assured me there was adequate inventory - an estimated 2,000 phones were delivered to this location alone. Also, the phones were simultaneously released at AT&T stores, where I understand the lines there were negligible. Apple's ability to inspire a cult following and religious zeal among their customers - (as documented by Guy Kawasaki in The Macintosh Way) and their ability to create buzz and hype for a product is remarkable. An iPhone search on Google brings 96 million hits. The actual product has received very favorable reviews, however. David Pogue, in an article from the New York Times - The iPhone Matches Most of Its Hype, refers to the product as "amazing." He also reports that over 11,000 articles have been written on the iPhone in just the six months. I'll find out good this product really is this weekend with some hands on time - a friend purchased one last night when we visited the Apple Store at 10:30 PM ...