Reg bloke zips through an iPHONE 6 queue from ZERO to 60 SECONDS World+Dog descended upon the flagship London Apple Store today in an attempt to get their sweaty mitts on the phabulous new iPhone 6 Plus. This Register reporter was on hand a little after the shop opened, to get a sense of why on earth people would queue for weeks just for the opportunity to buy a phone which is only …
<quote>When people start referring to a photo of a person or persons taken by a third party as a "selfie"</quote>
No I think you missed the point, and so did 27 people who upvoted your post. The pair /went on/ to take selfies, /that photo/ wasn't the selfie, nor did ITV say it was.
I'm probably going to get some flak for admitting this in this place, but I have a reservation later today to buy an iPhone in a London Apple store during a 1 hour time slot (it's time to replace the other half's 4S, although she doesn't know this yet). I can't work out if I'm supposed to queue (to actually get in the shop, rather than having to queue just to experience the hype properly). On the first morning of pre-orders, I went to the apple store, chose to reserve for collection instead of delivery (mainly because I wasn't committed to actually buy it that way, as collection is not pay in advance), picked a model and time slot.
I've never done this before (bought an Apple product anywhere near launch day) so I don't know how it works - in a normal shop I'd just saunter in at the start of my slot, say I had a reservation and pay, but in the crazy world of Apple hype it surely can't be that simple.
I note that the reserve for collection option is no longer available so it was obviously a limited number of slots, which makes me hopeful.
Anyone actually done this?
[Paris to reflect my level of cluelessness, although she would obviously not have to queue for one. Or order one herself]
[Oh and don't be fooled by my attempts to appear above the Apple hype. I am obviously a total sucker for it]
There will be a table with all the reserved units, and you'll stand in line in front of it when your time comes up. At least that's how it works here. I have never done the in-store line thing (I mail order on launch days), but I've gone by the stores while this was going on.
The nice thing about reservation lines at the store is that you're probably not standing outside like a knob.
"I'm probably going to get some flak for admitting this in this place, but I have a reservation later today to buy an iPhone in a London Apple store during a 1 hour time slot (it's time to replace the other half's 4S, although she doesn't know this yet)."
SACRIFICE HIM TO OUR GODS!!!!!
Just joking.....good luck.
so we can all join in with the fun!
Joking aside, I've bought one for my other half and like yours, she does not know it hence my posting Anon. It is her *0th next week and we are going in a little trip (another surprise so I won't say where but it is related to the fruity company in a roundabout way)
Many happy returns to your other half. So you can all join in the fun...
It was a surprisingly painless experience, if you ignore the severe wallet pain involved in buying a possibly ever so slightly overpriced iThing.
They have a special 'reservations' queue, next to the proper one (which is full of people who look suspiciously like they may be planning to sell their purchase on), which moves pretty fast, then they usher you to a Special area like the Special person you are and swiftly extract lots of money from you in the most cheery of manners. No whooping, high fives, fistbumps or whatever the young people do these days, but maybe they reserve those for the morning. Or for people who look in some way cool.
[Only one downvote so far for coming out on el Reg as a day 1 iPhone purchaser? Whatever are things coming to....?]
"[Only one downvote so far for coming out on el Reg as a day 1 iPhone purchaser? Whatever are things coming to....?]"
You may be a day one iPhone purchaser, and you may have openly admitted to being a sucker for the Apple hype - but in spite of all that, you still took a more reasoned and sensible approach to buying the product, rather than quamp* to get the new shiny. I suspect that may be a big factor in the lack of downvotes.
* Quamp. I just made that up as a portmanteau word to mean to queue and camp, which is what the real suckers do. Quamping for the new iToy.
Got mine on pre-order and sold to some poor sap for a massive profit on flea bay( didnt want a 2007 iphone with a bigger screen)
I just dont get the thing of waiting and having to be first or even paying top dollar for something that will be available to everyone in a month or so.
Back to my lovely Android and £300 beer token money for the weekend.
Thanks mr iBuyer for lining my pocket :-)
Again, weird Apple cultists, but this time in Japan
[quote]100,000 people line up to see a soccer game - it's just another game.
100 people line up to buy a phone - it's international news[/quote]
Umm yeah - When last did you see people queueing for a week - or even 12 hours - for a game of footie?
In fact who actually queues up to buy a ticket at the game? Doesn't everyone buy them in advance and just walk right in to the stadium? I sincerely doubt anything like even one-tenth of 100,000 people ever stand in a queue (even when you add up all the queues at 20 entrances to a stadium) of any sort, at any time, at any stadium, anywhere, ever.
Why queue to be the first to get anything?
You're the first for about 2 milliseconds. And then everyone else has theirs.
Wait a little while and
a) you can buy it at your leisure
b) you'll probably save some money.
Although I think I might buy a few Iphone 7s when they come out just so I can flog them on to some retards on fleabay.
On the article itself, I love teh response of 5 years to how long have you been here. This actually happened to a friend of mine, asked a guy at the bus stop how long he'd been here "About 6 months". My mate just facepalmed, started laughing before saying "I meant at the bus stop"
As for the apple following. If it suits them then that's fine. Everyone has their own hobbies. Personally I think standing in line for a few hours for a phone is daft, then again in a week or so I'll be standing in line for a few hours to get into eurogamer... and then in march I'll be doing the same thing for comicon, so who am I to judge.
The difference is, you'll be queueing up to attend a one-off event, which won't be there in a couple of weeks time, whereas these people are wasting their time standing outside a shop to buy a phone that will soon be available in every phone shop, Asda and Tesco in the land as well as Argos. Luxury item my arse.
http://livesniffpetrol.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/SPAD_PortraitModemovie.jpg (courtesy of sniffpetrol.com)
I bought my Samsung, sitting on my fat arse, all from the comfort of my spongy chair in front of my computer. It later arrives on my doorstep, where I briefly get off my fat arse to get it.
Similar to the way I'm making this post in fact.
My point being, the actual act of purchasing a mere phone shouldn't be much more than just that. Life's too short for sitting outdoors in a queue. I have more important things to do. Like writing this post frinstance...
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