I sat in line for about twelve hours last week to buy the iPhone 6 Plus upon release. I’m not a massive Apple fan, but I wanted to review the phone and stocks of the 6 Plus version would take too long to arrive. Here are some random snippets of (hopeful) interest from the experience.
- A couple in the queue assuming the woman I was sitting next to was my mom, and everyone just went along with it. “Wow, your son is really into reading!” “Yes, he’s quite the intellectual.”
- My ‘mom’ loaned me pink socks after mine were soaked… and I discovered I was still wearing them when I got home.
- Everyone in the line that I spoke with (~10 at the very front) were queuing to buy at least one 6 Plus.
- Gold was the most popular choice, followed by silver and space grey.
- 64GB was the most popular size; 16GB the least.
- Apple employees brought out umbrellas, water, doughnuts and coffee at various points.
- When the rain and lightning got bad, Apple employees moved the queue to a nearby arcade and took down names on an iPad Mini.
- One woman literally starting screaming when an iPhone 6 display model was put into the store window.
- About two or three dozen people of Indian descent joined the line together, at around midnight.
- The worst thunderstorms of the summer occurred during the night of the queue.
- I read a 220-page book, largely while pacing the length of the arcade in my pink socks. This made me something of a curiosity, and I got into an interesting conversation with a passing girl.
- True to form, Apple employees came whooping and hollering just before the store opened to customers.
- One woman paid in cash she stored in her bra.
- A homeless man joined the queue after asking questions about the cost of the phone, but was cleared off by a security guard.
- I paid £700 for a 64GB space grey iPhone 6 Plus; it was the most money I’ve ever paid in person by a factor of five.
I’m guessing this mostly isn’t interesting, but I thought I’d release it just because I wrote it down, and it might be interesting to refer to later.
