Everyone else is covering the iPhone line in budding metropoli (is that a word?) such as New York City, San Francisco, and Chicago. I hear there were 50+ people in line for the iPhone at the Michigan Avenue Apple Store in downtown Chicago as of 5am. Well, we thought we'd do something different (okay, maybe we had to because we were going to that darn wedding later) and cover iPhone line-waiters in a slightly less popular city... the budding metropolis of Cincinnati, Ohio.
I used to live in Cincinnati, and so I was familiar with the landscape when I arrived. I showed up at Kenwood Towne Center Mall at 7:45 AM Eastern Time, expecting at least 20 people to be in line. This is what I saw when I got there.
Nobody. The occasional mall-walker. That's it.
We stood in line briefly before a security guard came to shoo us away. "Are you in line for the iPhone, ma'am? The line can't start until 9:00."
By 8:45 AM, here is the small crowd that had formed just five feet away from the entrance, in a small, displaced line of sorts:
There are Ars readers present...
Somehow, I get the feeling the people of Cincinnati will be able to get iPhones.
Update (11:15am EDT): The guy next to me in line just got off the phone with his wife and told me that he will be buying two now: one for himself, and one for his three-year-old daughter.
Update (2:09pm EDT): The line has now extended far, far down the length of the mall. The last time we counted was about two hours ago, and it was at exactly 50 people at that time. By now, that number has to have crossed 75, at least. This is pretty big for the 'Nati. :P They have just closed the store and are putting up signage and black banners. Pics forthcoming.
Update (3:10pm EDT): Clint just did a quick count and there are currently 92 people in line. Security guards have been coming by to tell people to stand behind a certain square on the tile floor (no joke). One guy was standing one square too far, and he got scolded.
Update (5:05pm EDT): With less than an hour to go, people are getting feisty. The line in Cincinnati has well exceeded 140 by my conservative guess (last count was about an hour and a half ago and the number was 110). The woman next to us is jumping and kicking the air. Apple employees are congregating outside of the store. I can't wait to stop sitting on the tile floor.
Update (5:22pm EDT): Apple employees have unveiled the windows with a countdown in the window. They have changed all of the signs inside the store to iPhone signs, changed all of the screen savers, etc. Everything is iPhone, iPhone, iPhone.
Apple employees just came out to talk to us. They said that they'll be opening the store in 30 minutes, everybody will get the opportunity to touch the product, and that they "highly encourage people interested in buying an iPhone to buy the iPhone first then look around."
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