We're Busy Preparing for Our Own Coverage of 'iDay' this Friday,
So Here's What Others are Calling Up in Regard to the iPhone
| by Joe Leo, Columnist |
continued... from: previous page
Apple iPhone Displays Now Popping Up (There's an Idea)
On Wednesday of last week, in a news/feature, we spoke about what AT&T stood to gain from this partnership with Apple Inc. In doing that story, we took a photograph of the Cingular Wireless store we visited and pointed out that it was strange that this store announced that it would be carrying the iPhone with a small poster in its window, while an Apple Store we visited had no such displays of any sort.
Maybe they read our story (just kidding, of course) but apparently Apple started prepping their stores at the end of last week as MacRumors.com reported last Friday.
It must be pointed out that they talk about "displays" such as fancy noticeable ones. We were simply taken aback as to why Cingular Wireless had a small poster ad in the window while the Apple Store had nothing at all. By the same token, this wasn't reflective of all Apple Store and AT&T-owned Cingular Wireless stores across the nation.
Speaking of 'Sprint'-ing Down to Apple Stores
Arianna Huffington, of all people (she ran against then-candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger during the California Recall... that's where you've heard her name) quotes Steve Jobs himself as recommending to customers against going to an Apple Store to buy an iPhone on launch day. Of course, that's not going to stop the die-hard fans and people who always want to be the first to get their hands on a new product.
Like the Sony Playstation 3, the Nintendo Wii, etc. Which all became somewhat "widely" available thereafter.
Steve Jobs even recommended that people go to an AT&T/Cingular Wireless store instead. Was this his way of helping out Apple fans and reducing the lines? Who knows. But we have our own angle to cover on that one and that will be published the day before the big launch--now being called "iDay" by some Mac news websites--that may prove to be interesting in and of itself, while helping all of you out.
Call it a special "price tracker" of sorts (but has nothing to do with prices though). After all, the other job of PBCentral.com is to provide the latest news on prices in regard to Mac portables.
And the iPhone is a Mac "portable," right?
Oh, 'And One More Thing..."
If you were planning on being the first to line up at your local Apple Store and earning the title of such? You still may get that chance locally, but there already is a person who claims that title as reported by AppleInsider.com who even have photos and a video interview of the lone man in line at the flagship 24/7 Apple Store in New York City who lined up... yesterday. Four days early!
Trouble is? (And we can't find the source/link right now) It's been reported that Apple has released a "security update" not for Mac OS X or Safari for Windows, but?
Due to high security reasons, and crowd control, etc.-- Apple may be shooing away any customers who line up in advance of Friday's big release and telling them to come back later in the day of the actual release date to do so.
They haven't done so yet with the guy down in New York, so all looks good for now.
What will be interesting is how this all plays out. Since, Apple Stores are all different. Some are "stand-alone" like Apple's flagship New York City store, some are located in outdoor shopping malls where mall owners have rules of their own, and especially indoor/enclosed shopping centers where there's no way anyone will be allowed to line-up in front of the Apple Store.
If someone lines up outside the mall days ahead--let's just say--who's to stop someone from lining up on Friday itself by walking inside? (Thank goodness that's not our job to figure out! But we will be on the job Thursday afternoon and Friday afternoon and evening, covering the iPhone's release, just for you!).