While the rest of the Mac|Life staff heads for the downtown San Francisco Apple Store to check out the iPhone festivities, I decided to stake out an AT&T store.

 

The Apple Store is surely the place to be, but I'm leery of crowds. Perhaps the AT&T store would be best for what I want to do: Get my iPhone and get back to the office. On iPhone Eve, I convinced myself to go to the Apple Store, but Friday morning, I drove by the AT&T store in Daly City, CA. There was no line. I changed my mind to the AT&T store. I'll leave the office at 2 p.m. and get in line.

 

2:20 p.m.: I didn't leave the office on time. Twenty minutes could make the difference between getting an iPhone or not. Argh.

 

2:30 p.m.: I get to the Daly City AT&T store and there are about 30 people in line. I curse myself for not leaving sooner.

 

Here's the conundrum. Rumor has it that the AT&T stores will get about 20 iPhones. The number was never confirmed, but it influenced my thinking. I may end up with nothing here. Three-plus hours for nothing. It might make for a good story, but I want a phone, dammit.

 

I had directions to two other AT&T stores, both within five miles of the Daly City store. The next store is in Colma, known as the cemetary capital of the Bay Area. There are more dead people buried in Colma than living.

 

Should I stay here and get in line or try the Colma store? I can't decide, so I flip a coin. I'm heading to Colma.

 

2:45 p.m.: As I make the left turn into the Colma Metro Mall, I try to spot the store. Can't see it. As I drive around the parking lot, I barely miss a pedestrian looking for her parked car. I see the store, and there's a line, but it's not as long as the line at the Daly City store.

 

The AT&T Store in Colma, CA.

 

2:48 p.m.: I'm number 21 in line. I like my odds. I feel like I made the right decision, and I pat myself on the back for not going to the Apple Store.

 

2:49 p.m.: I check in with Leslie, let her know what's up. She tells me she heard that the line at the Apple Store is at 200 now. That's fewer than I expected. I have pictures in my head of a giant truck full o' iPhones parked next to the Apple Store, and store clerks rushing in and out, trying to keep up with the customer demand. Maybe waiting in line for hours isn't necessary.

 

3:10 p.m.: Two guys in front of me joke about the uncertainty of available stock for sale. "Wouldn't it be funny if the FedEx guy came here with one small envelope?" We all laugh, but it's a nervous laughter. What if?

 

Challenge: How many words can you make out of the letters in "Quiznos Subs"? Plurals count. I came up with 21.

 

Next: the final 90 minutes.

 

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3:33 p.m.: Besides being known for its cemetaries, Colma is known for its fog. It's worse than the fog in San Francisco. Right now, it's hazy and warm. When the sun peeks out between the cloud cover, it feels quite strong.

 

Pastrami...yum.

 

The Quiznos sign that I'm next to becomes a welcomed shelter from the sun. I have to look at pastrami sandwich for the next two-plus hours, but that's the price I pay for comfort.

 

3:38 p.m.: There are two guys behind me in line - whoops, now six. I haven't been paying close attention to the phone conversation of the guy directly behind me, but the snippets I hear include, "time of death," "cause of death," and "that snotty email response." His second mobile phone just went off.

 

4:06 p.m.: Store employees peer out the storefront every few minutes to gawk. Their surprised looks transform into wide grins as the realization of commissions sets in.

 

Make mine Olestra free, please.

 

4:09 p.m.: Three AT&T employees hand out chips and bottles of water to the folks in line. Isn't that nice? I devour the chips. After all, I've been sitting in front of a giant picture of a pastrami sandwich since I got here.

 

If I drink the water now, will my bladder burst before 6 p.m.?

 

4:31 p.m.: Line update. There are now 15 people behind me. I suspect the line will grow quickly once quittin' time comes around.

 

4:35 p.m.: Two AT&T clerks pitch us all on AT&T's DSL service. I have cable broadband at home.

 

4:38 p.m.: A security guard shows up to keep the crowd at bay. The store finally closes to prepare for 6 p.m. Everyone eagerly watches the clerks hang iPhone posters on the storefront. There's a sense that there's something really happening here, and the crowd is starting to buzz.

 

4:56 p.m.: There are four chairs near the front of the line that have been unoccupied since I arrived. A teenaged sk8r-boi in front of me notices the same thing. He says it's been over two hours since that group has been in line, and that they should lose their place. Sk8r-boi is trying to organize a group to chuck the chairs aside, but no one is interested.

 

The only other time I've ever stood in line like this was when Star Wars was released in 1977. My aunt, my brother, and I were second in line, and we arrived three hours before the movie.

 

I'm unfamiliar with line etiquette. What's the rule? Should that group lose their place? Does an inanimate object (in this case, a set of chairs) serve as a proper proxy in line? Shouldn't there at least be one person from this phantom group?

 

5:05 p.m.: Line update. There are now 26 people behind me. Will there be enough iPhones for all of us?

 

5:16 p.m.: The pizza guy delivers dinner for the store staff. They let him inside the store. The crowd reaction is mixed. Some want pizza, others want to be in the store.

 

5:17 p.m.: A FedEx truck pulls up, and the crowd reacts with applause. Then the truck quickly drives away, and the crowd laughs heartily.

 

5:37 p.m.: We're creeping closer to iPhone time, and the crowd is subduded. I start to wonder about the scene at the Apple Store. I bet there's a party going on over there. A few hundred people, the media, the spectators there to see it all. The atmosphere there must be electric. In Colma, the fog is starting to settle in.

 

I can't help but feel like a teenager without a date on prom night. Instead of going to the prom, I went to the party someone decided to throw for all us dorks who couldn't get a date for the prom. We're misfits. The real fun is on the other side of town.

 

5:45 p.m.: Line update. There are now over 70 people in line.

 

6 p.m.: The doors open. The store manager says that people will be let in a few at a time. Once the first group is in, I'm sixth in line. The manager says he's not allowed to tell anyone what his inventory is like. "Have enough for everyone?" he's asked. The manager simply smiles.

 

Not the first in line, but the first to leave the store with an iPhone.

 

6:10 p.m.: I call Leslie to see how she's doing. "We just bought a phone," she says. She beat me to it. Drats.

 

6:18 p.m.: I'm in the store. The saleswoman takes my mobile number, last four digits of my social security number, and which iPhone I want. She disappears to the back of the store.

 

6:28 p.m.: The saleswoman reappears, and asks for my email address. She disappears again.

 

6:38 p.m.: The saleswoman appears again, and asks for my credit card. She disappears. It's very disconcerting to have someone with your credit card disappear into a back room.

 

6:48 p.m.: The saleswoman hands me her business card, and tells me to contact her if I have problems. She must be psychic.

 

6:50 p.m.: On the road back to the office. I wrote a separate article detailing the unboxing and setup of the iPhone, as well as the brick wall I hit.