iPhone line forms at Apple's flagship for absolutely no reason
Update: For those of you convinced this is an Improv Everywhere stunt, here's a post from Charlie Todd -- the group's founder -- denying involvement.
[Thanks, Laura and Abiade]
Update: For those of you convinced this is an Improv Everywhere stunt, here's a post from Charlie Todd -- the group's founder -- denying involvement.
[Thanks, Laura and Abiade]
Relevant Posts
- Apple Store's US and UK sites run dry of iPhones, 3G imminent? (75 days ago - 13 Comments)
- Number port stats suggest curious trends in iPhone 3G launch (2 days ago - 77 Comments)
- Samsung Instinct, LG Dare, iPhone 3G... fight! (10 days ago - 54 Comments)
- AT&T announces iPhone 3G pricing plans (23 days ago - 79 Comments)
- Are you having problems with iPhone 2.0? (14 days ago - 51 Comments)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Matt @ May 22nd 2008 1:24PM
I wonder if "Improv Everywhere" is responsible? This smells like something they would do just because. People standing in lines for absolutely no reason. I love it...
Juice @ May 22nd 2008 3:18PM
They totally look in character. Wardrobe and all.
chuckiej @ May 25th 2008 7:16PM
A couple people at digg are claiming it is ImprovEverywhere. Makes a lot of sense but still very funny.
phoomp @ May 22nd 2008 5:44PM
Even better, if they're convincing non-actors to stand in line, just in case something new is being released!
David Robison @ May 22nd 2008 1:27PM
Will someone please send this to Steve "It's got no friggin' keyboard" Ballmer?
David @ May 22nd 2008 1:43PM
How exactly do you express interest in starting a random line?
dagamer34 @ May 22nd 2008 1:57PM
It'll be even funnier if the MSM picks up on this.
Geoff Gibson @ May 22nd 2008 1:58PM
Awwww look at all the pretty sheep!
Everywhere I see sheep... I love how easily herded and confused they are.
...
Ya.
Chris @ May 22nd 2008 2:39PM
No, they are people. What they are doing might not make sense but neither does your effort to label them as something else in order to feed some sense of superiority you have.
MBN @ May 22nd 2008 2:42PM
Baah Baaaah!
David @ May 22nd 2008 1:59PM
It would be more funny if a random line suddenly mobbed a Radio Shack or something :P
Jeffrey M Doran Jr @ May 22nd 2008 2:02PM
"Our intrepid girl-on-the-scene reports that the group is more than 60-deep, though most people seem confused about what they're waiting for, but some believe they're actually camping out for a 3G iPhone."
"though most people seem confused about what they're waiting for"
This has got to be one of the funniest things I have heard from reading on this site I usually don't post but this made me laugh.
PSM @ May 22nd 2008 2:26PM
I stopped in there yesterday and they had a bunch of iPhones on display. I didn't ask if they actually had any in stock, though. But it would be just like them to have 20 out on the floor even if they haven't been selling them for weeks.
It was the first time I've played with one in a while, and now I'm even more impatient for the 3G.
Scott Johnson @ May 22nd 2008 2:34PM
How can a photo be live? Photos are always snapshots of a moment from the past.
MBN @ May 22nd 2008 2:44PM
I guess even live video feed isn't live, since the frame you're looking at at a given moment is at least 1/24th - 1/30th of a second old.
Marty @ May 22nd 2008 2:43PM
I've SEEN it happen with my own 2 eyes... although in Orlando it tends to be w/ tourists. Tourists see a line, they jump in it. For no reason.
TareX @ May 22nd 2008 2:55PM
I don't get it. So these hundreds of people received a "tip" which Engadget, BGR, Phonemag, Intomobile all missed?????
It would seem plausible if even there was a mild rumor that the iPhone 3G release was imminent. Hell Jobs didn't even make his announcement yet.
I don't get it.
anthonylitz @ May 22nd 2008 3:02PM
They said 60ish people, not hundreds...
unixisgood @ May 22nd 2008 4:04PM
Maybe they are standing in line to be blessed by the ominous blurry finger.
Lorne @ May 22nd 2008 4:57PM
Look...sheep!
anthonybuchanan @ May 22nd 2008 5:13PM
This could be some sort of test.
What if Apple has been secretly uploading execution codes into the brains of iphone users since these iphone users started using their iphones.
When activated, they are instructed to form a line in front of their nearest Apple store.
Either Apple is running tests right now on a select group of users or, what was uploaded is buggy.
A similar functionailty was demonstrated during the Star Wars Episode III movie where clones were instructed to kill Jedi.
This is likely what is going on here. Some kind of test or bug.
anthonybuchanan @ May 22nd 2008 5:14PM
This could be some sort of test.
What if Apple has been secretly uploading execution codes into the brains of iphone users since these iphone users started using their iphones.
When activated, they are instructed to form a line in front of their nearest Apple store.
Either Apple is running tests right now on a select group of users or, what was uploaded is buggy.
A similar functionailty was demonstrated during the Star Wars Episode III movie where clones were instructed to kill Jedi.
This is likely what is going on here. Some kind of test or bug.
LiSa @ May 22nd 2008 6:18PM
i know you didn't seriously just post that...
engadget @ May 23rd 2008 8:55AM
As long as they aren't all craving Honeyed Nougat
TPFinNYC @ May 22nd 2008 5:14PM
I was in the Apple store on 5th ave yesterday afternoon. The store has been receiving the standard iphones in but in very limited quantities when I inquired with an apple associate.
I would guess that what the line is for. def not the 3g iphone it doesn't land for more then 2.5 weeks
TPF in NYC
Seth J. @ May 22nd 2008 5:14PM
Line sitting is a hobby for the lonely. They started a forum so they can chat online without actually talking directly to each other. It's safer that way. What's not safe is a toddler dangling over a railing in Seattle under attack by seagulls. Two ridiculous ideas with photos to prove it.
http://www.iphonesavior.com/2008/05/iphone-hero-sna.html
johnnguyen @ May 22nd 2008 5:16PM
lemmings, such lemmings...
Wayzom @ May 26th 2008 2:18PM
Apparently you use a word, you do not understand, even a little.
Jeff Lewis @ May 22nd 2008 5:48PM
Wow... that's so sad.
It's one thing to queue up for a product that's about to ship (although even that's kind of iffy) - but to queue up for a product that won't even ship for at least three weeks - that takes lame to a whole new level.
rikxik @ May 22nd 2008 11:57PM
Its not lame to wait for a product that won't even ship for at least three weeks.
Its lame to wait when don't even know what you're waiting for.
kastonie @ May 22nd 2008 6:02PM
man im about to go down to the apple store in the houston galleria and start another line...
not.....
MIKE @ May 22nd 2008 6:09PM
You have to admit its kinda ironic. Engadget has in essence created a "virtual line" by posting this article. 27 people have posted so far about it. Lets all watch the page of posts grow as the line at the apple store grows.
Gerhard @ May 22nd 2008 6:14PM
Is that Russia? Queuing up for cabbage is one thing, people need to eat, but up for electronics? I own Apple stuff, but get a grip folks and stop drinking the kool-aid.
Korben Dallas @ May 22nd 2008 7:51PM
LOL. No, this is America, where people easily believe in simplistic propaganda stores, be it about some mythical lines for cabbage in Russia, or mythical 3G iPhones becoming available in the nearest Apple store.
rebuilder @ May 22nd 2008 6:24PM
I recently heard of groups like Improv Everywhere getting people to line up at shopping centres simply by starting a pointless queue. Apparently people tend to join in, simply because there is a queue there. Probably something like this happened here.
darkmuff @ May 22nd 2008 6:45PM
Plenny of room here in the Zune line - Who's Next? ....Anyone?
Tom @ May 22nd 2008 7:54PM
As a networking technician (or wannabe, by your name "packetsniffer" and avatar of the Cisco Systems logo), you should know that redundancy is important!
Xenu @ May 22nd 2008 9:03PM
I'm on my way there to start another line for any new accessories.
Fosnizzle @ May 22nd 2008 9:32PM
If it's all white people, I smell Improv Everywhere...
They're a notoriously pale-faced outfit.
cam @ May 23rd 2008 12:57AM
when is the iphone G3 coming out and when is the 32 gig coming out and when is it all coming to Canada???
General Grant @ May 23rd 2008 1:40AM
iPhone 2 immediately available after the WWDC announcement on June 9th. No official word on 32GB. Canada will be announced with 30 days.
http://www.iphonesavior.com/2008/05/gizmodo-scoops.html
Memo @ May 23rd 2008 2:01AM
The Masses are Asses.God I Hate Apple.
Vim @ May 23rd 2008 9:53AM
@Memo : "Masses are Asses", so you hate Apple?
Where do you think all these new sheep-like Mac users have switched from? Yes, that's right - they're the same old sheeple who used Windozzze for all those years.
James @ May 23rd 2008 4:42AM
If you think "queueing in line" is redundant, there are a number of mainland Europe countries you must have never visited...
Rob Manton Levy @ May 23rd 2008 5:17AM
Is this line for the old 2.5g Iphones? If the new 3g model has just been announced along with a cut in supply, maybe these people are waiting for the last stocks of the old models?
Kyrra @ May 23rd 2008 9:34AM
This has to be a stunt? Do these people really have this much free time?
DiGiC @ May 23rd 2008 12:24PM
Has anyone found out what was (is?) going on?
wako @ May 23rd 2008 2:11PM
Sooo...
why hasnt someone just went to the line and ASKED them why they are standing in line?
firesign @ May 23rd 2008 2:18PM
so, do you include the even larger masses that use windows? yeah, didn't think so.
Gib @ May 23rd 2008 4:59PM
This is my question: Is the lane-corridor creating stretchy stuff always out there to handle lines or is that something new for the mysterious line?
If it is always there, then nevermind. If not, then.....somethings going on.