Even Apple's co-founder is standing in line for an iPhone

Those standing in line around the Bay Area to be among the first to spring for a new iPhone shouldn't feel bad: Even the cofounder of Apple was queued up.

Steve Wozniak arrived at the Apple store at Valley Fair Mall in San Jose at 4 a.m. to begin the wait wearing a button that read, "The line starts here. Woz #1."

In fact, he hadn't been the first to show up but in deference, Apple fans stepped aside to give him the first space.

"This has been the main mall my whole life," Wozniak said, explaining his choice of venue. "This is where I and Steve Jobs came when we were kids."

When the Apple store closed at 2 p.m. to prepare for the 6 p.m. onslaught of business, 200 people stood behind Wozniak.

Why did they bother, when Apple is offering to ship its new product at no extra cost?

"Yeah, you can order a CD online, too -- or you can go to the concert and hear it live," Wozniak said.

Over in Emeryville, more than 150 iPhone devotees had lined up outside the Apple store, many chatting, tapping away on Apple laptops or grooving to music on iPods.

The Apple store provided free WiFi, and Bay Street shopping mall let people power up electronic devices from nearby poles while they waited.

First in the line of loungers was Jiggs Davis Jr., a 73-year-old biotech entrepreneur from Piedmont, who was accompanied by one of his employees, project manager Chi Pak, 24.

Davis, wearing a red American flag ball cap to shield the sun, said he's been an Apple fan since the company's inception. His own Alameda company is outfitted with all Apple products. He appreciates their simplicity, he said.

He nabbed the first spot in line by arriving at 4:45 a.m. and was passing the time working on his Powerbook G4. He will be happy, he said, to replace the Cingular Treo hooked to his belt with the new iPhone.

Sitting next to them was Saul Sutcher, an 18-year-old Occidental college student, a self-proclaimed Apple fan since birth who owns several iPods, a few laptops and couldn't wait to add the iPhone to his collection.

He was keeping busy organizing his music and photos so they'd be ready to load onto his new accessory. His family dropped by from time to time to drop off blankets, food and electronics.

Next to Sutcher was Rick Shibata, a 36-year-old information technology manager for a Richmond freight company, who was wearing a MacWorld T-shirt. He gave up a good-paying consulting gig, he said, to wait in line for an iPhone.

The Apple fan, who has attended every MacWorld convention for the past eight years and catches all the Steve Jobs keynotes on the Web, said he couldn't wait to replace his Motorola Razr cell phone. "I just love their user interface, and their design is top-notch," he said.

All four got to the Emeryville store so early, they helped set up the barricades through which the line snaked this afternoon.

At the end of the line was the most recent arrival: Kyle Killion, 29, of Oakland, who co-founded JamLab, a Web site for musicians. He had to work, he said, so he got there about 1 p.m.

He got hooked on the new product when he got a chance to play with it for a few minutes at the Apple developer conference.

Killion, who calls himself an "Apple whore" and planned to purchase two iPhones, said that he didn't like the company when Jobs wasn't at the helm.

"It's possible to love a product and hate a company," he said, adding that he doesn't like how Apple treats its developers.

Across the street and down a block, a much smaller line of about 20 people -- including a baby in a stroller -- formed outside the Cingular store. Limit for customers there is one phone per person.

That's OK with Angelica Contreras, 20, a college student from San Pablo, and her boyfriend of six years, Owen Perez, 22, who arrived at 9 a.m. and jumped to the head of the Cingular line rather than wait in the already long line in front of the Apple store. They had heard rumors that the Apple store would be giving away T-shirts, but they didn't care. They just want one phone for Contreras, who has been pining for the product for six months and can't wait to play with its touch screen. She has had it with her Razr phone. "Everybody has it," she said. "I want something else, something better."

So what does Perez, a Merritt College psychology major, think? He laughed. "I'm not getting one. But she wanted one bad."

In San Francisco, about 200 hopeful consumers had queued up by 3 p.m.

Some had been on-hand the previous evening, when an unknown benefactor delivered pizza, and a local company handed out chocolate.

Those in line had plenty of time to spread rumors. A bearded man at the end of the San Francisco line this morning, who would only identify himself as Ray, insisted that the store "only had 600 phones.''

Where did he hear that?

"From the media, man,'' Ray said.

Actually there have been no reports of how many will be available. However, postings on the Apple Web site remind potential buyers that they can order online, have a phone shipped to them and not even pay a delivery charge. That may be keeping the lines in check.

Or, like San Francisco Art Institute student Chris Silva, they may just think "the whole thing is totally over-hyped.'' Silva, number five in line at Walnut Creek, has no interest in buying an iPhone himself -- he's earning $100 for every 24 hours he stands in line. But his guess is the buyer who's paying him didn't have to bother.

"Just wait,'' Silva says. "At 8 o'clock tonight you'll be able to walk right in and buy a phone.''
Source :http://www.sfgate.com