UPDATE, 8:20 a.m.: Slideshow posted so you too can see what it was like to be in line for an iPhone 3GS way before the rest of the county was awake. For more coverage, visit The Gadgetress’ blog.
It wasn’t the opening of H&M, the appearance of Giada de Laurentiis or even the launch of the iPhone 3G last year, but the Apple store drew a mid-sized crowd at South Coast Plaza this morning when it began distributing its new iPhone 3GS.
About 75 people were in line when the store opened at 6:15 a.m., despite an advertised opening time of 7 a.m.
Jon Worrel, 18, of Anaheim was first in line, just as he was for the latest iPhone launch last year.
“I’m an enthusiast for the products,” said the Loara High School graduate headed to UC Merced. “I like to buy them on launch day.”
Worrel arrived at 1:30 a.m. with two friends, who weren’t buying phones, but they were shooed away by mall security. After a bite at Denny’s, they returned at 3:30 a.m. to claim the first spot in line.
Worrel, who said he’s reviewing the new iPhone for Fudzilla.com, said he’s most looking forward to the increased network speed.
Although the store’s server went down for about 10 minutes early this morning, the two lines — for customers with reserved iPhones and those without — have been moving steadily. Coffee and water are being served.
Getting a new iPhone on the day of its launch is a tradition for many of those in line, including the Daniels family of Orange, who went home with six of the new devices.
“It’s so user-friendly,” said Carson Daniels, 13, who said he’ll use his 3GS for texting, calling and Facebooking.
“He earned it,” said his mother, Jayne Daniels. “We told him if he got 15 As on tests in a row, he could get it.”
Scott Dang, 37, of Westminster got to South Coast Plaza at 5:30 a.m. because “I’m hard-core.” The first thing he’ll do on his fifth and newest iPhone? Call his girlfriend to tell her he got it.
Click here for full coverage of the new iPhone on the Gadgetress blog.
More on Events from the South Coast Plaza blog:
For more on South Coast Plaza, see list of links on right-hand side of this blog.
can you view a .jpg on this one!?