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After Nearly 100 Hours in Line, San Francisco’s First iPhone 5

taskrabbit.com

21–27 of 27 posts

Re: After Nearly 100 Hours in Line, San Francisco’s First iPhone 5

#21
post #7

I genuinely don't get it. Can someone please explain why the hell anyone would queue up like this? Food, water, medicine, supplies - yes. Shiny telephone - no.

They consider it fun, something to do, a chance to hang around for a little bit with some people that are interested in some of the same things they're interested in.

This. When the iPhone 4 came out, I hung out in the queue for two hours even though I wasn't planning to purchase a phone (I was keeping a friend company who was in it for the long haul). It was a lot of fun and we met some cool people.

Re: After Nearly 100 Hours in Line, San Francisco’s First iPhone 5

#22
post #14
post #5

And, a few hours later, I queued up at the same Apple store and walked out of the store 20 minutes later with my iPhone 5. I suppose you can never know in advance, but this time they still had hundreds in stock at noon.

The scarcity of iPhones at launch is a fabrication. The primal human instinct to be lured by scarcity even trumps rational minds.

It's not always a fabrication, it's just difficult to predict. It was quite difficult to get an iPhone 4S for many days after its release.

Re: After Nearly 100 Hours in Line, San Francisco’s First iPhone 5

#23
post #22
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The scarcity of iPhones at launch is a fabrication. The primal human instinct to be lured by scarcity even trumps rational minds.

It's not always a fabrication, it's just difficult to predict. It was quite difficult to get an iPhone 4S for many days after its release.

Just out of curiosity, why is there an emphasis on getting the iPhone so soon after release (unless you are a developer who needs it for testing)? You'll have your phone for 2 years -- why it is worth spending 2 whole work-weeks in line to get the phone 5 days earlier?

Re: After Nearly 100 Hours in Line, San Francisco’s First iPhone 5

#24
post #19
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was going to say, "it's in the article" then I went back and realized it's not in the post (I think it was in previous posts about it). Kinda surprised since they could have done a lot of PR with, "THIS GUY MADE 1500!"

I thought so too, but it turns out he only made about 16.70 an hour. All things considered it was decent enough for a one time thing, but thats really not that much money.

Many people have lots of trouble finding even $10 jobs these days! Plus, those are the people who are most likely to sign up to be TaskRabbits. Furthermore, he can read, sleep, play videogames, etc. while getting paid.

I'd say he got a great deal.

Re: After Nearly 100 Hours in Line, San Francisco’s First iPhone 5

#26
post #23
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not always a fabrication, it's just difficult to predict. It was quite difficult to get an iPhone 4S for many days after its release.

Just out of curiosity, why is there an emphasis on getting the iPhone so soon after release (unless you are a developer who needs it for testing)? You'll have your phone for 2 years -- why it is worth spending 2 whole work-weeks in line to get the phone 5 days earlier?

Wrong, if you are the average Apple fanboy (and oh, don't get me started, there are plenty of those, I sit for lunch every day with two of them) you'll have the phone until the next one comes out. Why? Don't ask me, I guess it's the success of Apple's selling its brand as a 'lifestyle'.
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