Midnight serenity for New York's 'iPhone hippies'

Things are still quiet outside the Apple Store.

(Credit: Caroline McCarthy/CNET News.com)

NEW YORK--Some time shortly before midnight, I stopped by the Fifth Avenue Apple flagship store here to get an update on the folks who were waiting in line for the iPhone 3G. It hits stores Friday.

It's very quiet here. There is no one new who has lined up for the phone; the line still consists exclusively of the sustainable-agriculture activists from Waiting for Apples. (I guess eager fanboys got our memo that as a trend, gadget-queueing has reached the tipping point.) Regardless of what you think of their mission, these happy hippies are extremely pleasant to talk to and say that they have been thoroughly enjoying their stay--despite constant press coverage, not all of it good.

"I was a little worried after I read some of the comments on Engadget about us," one of the Waiting for Apples volunteers, Heyward Gignilliat, who teaches English as a second language at Boston's Northeastern University, told me. Nothing against Engadget--it's just that blog commenters can be awfully nasty. "But overall, it's been pretty positive."

News.com Poll

Apple's latest and greatest
Will you buy an iPhone 3G?

Yes, I'll be one of the first in line.
Yes, but I'm going to avoid the launch rush.
No, I'm not interested.

View results

The Apple Store, open 24-7, offers bathrooms and free Wi-Fi that extends into the plaza around it. Days can be blisteringly hot, but nights are tolerably breezy and the thunderstorms dotting weather forecasts have stayed away. The serene glass-box design of the subterranean Apple Store and the adjacent decorative fountain make for a nice setting. It's bound to be a mess when the line gets longer, but for now, things are chill.

They've had a few temporary guests, Gignilliat told me. A young man from Venezuela showed up with his mother as part of a sightseeing trip in New York prior to heading to the Berklee College of Music in Boston. He'd planned to be the first in line at the New York store, but his plans were foiled by the presence of Waiting for Apples, who hope to snag a Guinness World Record for their week-long wait. He consequently decided to head to Boston early, Gignilliat explained, and try to be the first in line at an Apple Store up there.

Another noted visitor was New York Times tech pundit David Pogue, who'd also planned to be the first in line and appeared to be surprised by the presence of a line already (though who knows if that was a planned gag for the camera crew he had in tow).

And another speculator was milling around the line around midnight, checking out the scene and saying he was planning to join the line, but his willpower seemed questionable.

But for now, the line is quiet, with only a handful of people holding down the fort. They should enjoy it for now--come Wednesday or Thursday, things are going to get a lot more hectic at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and East 58th Street.

[Constable Odo]

I agree, some of the commenters on Engadget are extremely nasty calling these activists worse than fools. If someone has their own opinion, these people will attack you personally. I guess they must be cowards, name calling people behind their back and in complete anonymity. And they're telling these activists they should get themselves a life.

I think anyone who has time to wait in line and have some fun isn't causing anyone any harm. I think they have a lot of fortitude to be hanging out on the streets of Manhattan for a week. I hope they get their record.

[blabtech.blogspot.com]

I don't see the need for nasty comments, People just are willing to camp out for the product.

[chlimouj]

Seriously, as much as everyone wants to argue that these people have the right to do what they're doing and they're not harming anyone, you gotta admit it's a pretty stupid to care so deeply about. I mean, how empty must their lives be that they put so much stock into a consumer electronic? There was a time when people did sit-ins for peace, for political change, or just to draw attention to a particular humanitarian cause... but not these people. That's not the kind of "fortitude" they have. Instead, they're using a week of their lives that they will never get back... for what? To buy something that anybody can buy on Ebay 24 hours after they all go home? Yes, they have the right to do it... they also have the right to stab themselves in the eye. That doesn't mean they SHOULD. I hope from now on Apple releases everything in the dead of winter. At least that way we'll weed out the zealous "leaders" of this group and cleanse the gene pool just a tiny bit.

[thedreaming]

People queuing up to buy an iphone isn't new and it isn't news, but there's nothing new to report, so they do a fluff piece and the pray things get hoping by Friday. Make fun of the people that lined up early if it makes you feel better, but so long as they aren't breaking the law and aren't hurting anyone, does it really matter? Is your life so disrupted by hearing on the news about some people lining up to buy a phone?

[sanenazok]

Stop encouraging them.

The reason why they're camping out is not for the new phone but because you keep covering them, especially by visiting them at midnight. I could care less for "sustainable" whatever (except for goat cheese, we better NOT run out of that!) but they can do whatever they want with their apparently low-value time. That does not mean that their attempt is news or should be covered extensively.

[Marcia Boone]

I have a 10am One to One appointment at my Apple Store. I think I may get the white one. All my files are ready to download to iPhone so I am prepared. I look forward to a phone that has everything I need. I regret it was not released before my recent trip. GPS would have been interesting to use as I walked to various venues in NYC.

[sanenazok]

Also, the Guinness world record attempt is typical america-centrist view of the world.

During last winter's snow storm in China, many people waited for more than week for their train tickets. See: http://www.chinatravelguide.com/ctgwiki/2008_China_Snowstorm

Alternatively, people wait for basic necessities all over the world for weeks on end. A week waiting for a new phone is NOT record worthy.

[vasudevan_n2001]

obviously it is a stupid thing and people mustn't hype-up a commodity to the extent of seeming to wait one whole week outside some shop. get a life is the apt comment for such people. and it just does not become their business alone. what a few do ultimately affects an entire society and in today's news starved world where news hawkstry desperately to create news such additional efforts to spoil the artmosphere isn't called for. instead, these apple lovers should have got their respect if they were waiting for 'pest free apples' and fighting for a clean green world! ...vasu from india.

[vasudevan_n2001]

obviously it is a dumb thing and people mustn't hype-up a commodity to the extent of seeming to wait one whole week outside some shop. 'get a life' is the apt comment for such people. and it just does not become their business alone. what a few do ultimately affects an entire society and in today's news starved world where news hawkstry desperately to create news such additional efforts to spoil the artmosphere isn't called for. instead, these apple lovers should have got their respect if they were waiting for 'pest free apples' and fighting for a clean green world! ...vasu from india.