iBuy an iPhone and iHappy

Ladies and Gentlemen, my heart's a flutter, for I am the new owner of an iPhone 3G. For those of you who've not yet had the pleasure to play around with the nifty little gadget, let me try to describe to you what it is like in few words: I'm like James Bond minus the weapons and women. Indeed, as I walked home from the Cambridgeside Galleria, I turned on the GPS, maniacally tracking myself as a tiny blue dot on a digital map. And it was that moment when I realized that the walk was going to be some distance, that I decided to jump on the bus. Thanks, iPhone.

But let's jump back a moment in time, to the early dawn hours as I awoke from an anxious slumber. As soon as I heard my alarm go off, I leapty heartily out of bed, hastened to get ready, and bolted out the door. It was iPhone day, and I was determined to get my grubby hands on one of those little devices . . . like candy for your finger tips.

I arrived at the mall at around 5:45, and the line there had grown only to 13 people. I was #14. I secured my spot in line. Rested against the glass doors of the American Eagle, I engulfed a small cup of iced coffee and a croissant from the Dunkin Donuts from across the concourse. The guy one spot ahead of me was what you might call a "Fan Boy." He already owned a 1st Generation iPhone but seemed just as hyped up about the 3G as people were when the original iPhone hit the stores.

It was nearly 6:00am when I decided to pull out my oh-so-trendy Macbook Pro (although not quite as trendy as a few MacBook Airs that I saw around) and found, to my delightful surprise, Apple made available their demo network. I then proceeded to hit up Hulu.com and watched a few episodes of Always Sunny in Philadelphia to accelerate the passing of time. Though it was ample distraction of constant clock-watching, I couldn't help but feel the growing anticipation in the company of such jubilant and energized individuals, many of whom were much more excited than I was. I listened as techies talked about what they were going to use their iPhone for, what type of phone they were replacing, and general shop-talk about their respective jobs for which they were undoubtedly making some bank.

As the clock neared 8:00am, people at the front were gathering in front of the door as the Apple Store employees took down a black screen which hid the hustle and bustle of 30+ workers getting ready for the launch. Finally, the doors opened to thunderous applaud--and not by just the people in line. The Apple Store employees cheered as the first chunk of people, which include myself, entered the store, giving us a pseudo celebrity welcome. It was quite a spectacle and I couldn't help smile as I walked through the door, though undoubtedly it was probably one of the geekiest moments of my life.

One of the customer service reps approached me and asked me if I could be helped. I said sure, to which he responded, "So are you here for the iPhone?" I looked quizzically at him for a moment and asked, "iPhone? What's that?" We shared a nerdy chuckle and I was more than on my way to owning a new little gadget.

After all that boring stuff (activation/payment), I walked out victorious. As I was making my exit, a band of haters trailed out after making lame comments such as "GayPhone," and I couldn't help wonder who was the bigger loser in this situation, the guy who waited 2 hours for a phone he didn't really need, or the guy that woke up and went to the mall to harass him.... I guess the answer is fairly obvious. In any case, as soon as I left the vicinity and boarded the bus, I was playing with the phone, writing emails, and generally enjoying the gadget.

After nearly a full-day of use, I have to say I'm happy with the purchase but a little disappointed with the AT&T signal quality--despite much forewarning. In any case, hopefully the network will become a little better once all the initial buzz calms down a bit. There's a lot of hype about the possibilities of this phone and I for one am very excited. Did someone say iPorn?

Uh. Just kidding.