Sunday, July 01, 2007

The Wait For The I-Phone Is Over

I must say, I was not shocked to hear that people were camping out at AT&T stores across the Triangle more than 12 hours before the device went on sale.

I don’t know what’s worse…the fact that people camped out to buy the device or the fact that media stations across America sent photographers, reporters and live trucks to local stores to get video of the people camped out. (Full Disclosure: NBC 17 News was one of the stations that was live with the lines of people eager to put their hands on an iphone).

Now, I will admit that I have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of this phone. That being said, I had no intention of standing outside a Triangle AT&T store (yes, I know cingular is the new AT&T) battling to get the device. Ironically, I did end up buying an 8gig iphone Friday evening. I’ll provide you full details of my adventure on Monday.

Meanwhile, I couldn’t help but begin to think about how much free advertising the iphone has recieved by media outlets throughout our country. I mean, every time someone reported on the hype, the anticipation of the release, the lines of people or the actual item going on sale…it is free advertising for Apple.

The big question is—what would you think if we (NBC 17) didn’t report on the Apple iphone at all? What if all the media stations banned together and none of us had reported on this device? Would their still be a rush for everyone to run out and spend $600 bucks to buy one?

Local iphone reaction here and here.

Did you go out and buy one? If so, I’d like to talk to you.
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