iPhone Night: Katie's Experience

June 29: iPhone Night.

This morning, I had to get to work at 11 am. I work at a toy store and although a somewhat steady stream of customers came in, it felt like an eternity before my coworker arrived to cover for me. She walked in the door at 3:45 and I bolted! I was out of my Learning Express apron, had my purse in hand and in the car by 3:46.

I wanted to wear something other than my work uniform to the launch, so I changed in the car; not an easy feat if you're 5'8" and drive a Hyundai Accent. I got changed and had to high-tail it to the bank to pull out money with which to buy the phone. I popped out of my car, ran into the WaMu, and left with an obscene amount of cash. I'd never been so nervous in my life. (I'm always convinced I'll get mugged by everyone.)

I jump in the car, find my way to Westheimer and cursing everyone who was doing the speed limit along the way. I get to the parking garage at about 4 pm. I ran to the Apple Store through the crowded mall. A few people hypothesized why I was running with such haste: "Nerd must want that Apple Phone!"I finally got in line a little after 4 PM. I was number 126. I passed the time with a fellow nerd in line. (Hi, Henry!!!)

We finally got in the store around 6:30 or so; the staff really rushed people outta there!

My buying experience was less than stellar. I was paying with cash, as my credit card limit is only $1500 a month, and a girls gotta have her credit card available to her! Since the Houston Galleria Apple store is a v2.0 interior, theres about a dozen clerks with credit card handsets and a single cash drawer.

One.

I was put in a line behind 5 teenage boys. If I were single, Id get super-excited and start preening, but I dont think my boyfriend would quite appreciate that. ;) There was one girl working the cash register and she took forever to count out change. I was in the secondary cash-line for about 45 minutes, while dozens and dozens of people whizzed by me, buying all my iPhones! Nooo!!

Luckily, I got to buy an 8 gig iPhone; they hadnt sold out. I gave the nice girl seven crisp $100-bills and walked to the accessory wall.

I picked up a few accessories. The SkinTight case from Speck, the Crystal Film Set from Power Support, and an iTunes card because I should probably buy a movie and watch it on the iPhone to get a feel for the screen. Ill post full reviews of the cases and the film later. Am I right in guessing that we dont need a review of the iTunes gift card? ? If I wanted to pay cash for the accessories, I wouldve had to wait in that cursed line AGAIN, so I just charged it with a nice young man with his remote control credit card machine.
I got my goodies and was on my way in a matter of seconds. Yay!

I sped home, going a little a lot over the speed limit, carefully tore open the box and took pics as I went along. Enjoy the unboxing! (after the jump)

And is there anything yall want to see tomorrow? Leave it in the comments! :)

And the Gallery: