Queuing up for an iPhone 3G days in advance of its release isn’t just a no-fault method of obtaining the Jesus Phone 2.0--it’s also great publicity.
As reported previously, a group known as TheWhoFarm, has been camped out on the sidewalk in front of Apple’s Fifth Avenue store since July 4. They were joined today by one person and a group of bloggers for The iLife.com. (The iLife counts this as three “places” held.)
Tim Bajarin, president of the market analysis company, Creative Strategies, Inc., says that people are lining up for the iPhone 3G because, “They basically are responding to a geek’s nature to have the coolest toy first.… It’s like a prize. Even if it’s only 10 minutes before your friend, the fact that you got it first is a big deal to a geek.”
But that only partially explains why people have staked themselves to a patch of Fifth Avenue. They may be waiting to buy a cell phone, but they’re waiting with a purpose: TheWhoFarm is a sustainable agriculture advocacy group that wants to bring attention to local organic farming, and The iLife.com want to blog on the scene.
Today, theiLife are enjoying the shade, while The Who Farm’s solar panel charger needs more sunlight. And as they sit on line, each of them are being interviewed in turn about their causes by publications such as Fortune, Reuters, and the Huffington Post. Right now, there are more interviewers than interviewees.
By the mere fact that they’re waiting for an iPhone makes them media fodder: newshounds want to interview these Apple lovers. Average people, for brief moments, can grab international attention and focus it wherever they want.
According to Bajarin, “Because the cameras are there, people pull out their placards, even if [the event is] unrelated. They have a cause and see a camera, and they’ll gravitate towards it.”
But this supposes that the cameras came first, not the queue. However, Bajarin says the mystique of Apple, stoked by Steve Jobs’ legendary secrecy, creates an instant human-interest piece, which is always interesting to editorial desks.
So does waiting for an iPhone in front of the Fifth Avenue store equate to a one-way ticket to five minutes of fame? For now, yes. Google the phrase, “Waiting for Apples,” the mission statement of TheWhoFarm, and the search engine returns over 10,000 hits. It’s not Internet superstardom…but it’s over 9,000 more hits than TheWhoFarm itself receives.
And what about the individual who is sandwiched between the two groups? What’s his agenda? Tony (no last name) said he was waiting because he was being paid to: he’s there to hold a place for a iPhone-craving friend.
