iPhones plentiful, queuing pointless

Long queues for Apple's iPhone moved quickly on Friday evening on both coasts of the US, as the general public finally got its hands on what is perhaps the most hyped gadget in tech history.

In both New York and San Francisco, queues that had stretched for blocks outside Apple retail stores dissipated rapidly as cheering employees high-fived the first iPhone customers as they were ushered inside in groups just after 6pm local time. But at AT&T's stores, where queues were shorter, the pace of iPhone distribution was slower.

Hundreds of people had queued up as early as Monday to be among the first people to accompany Apple on its maiden voyage into the smart-phone market. The iPhone, a touchscreen smart phone capable of browsing the Internet, playing music and videos, and making phone calls, generated almost unprecedented coverage from both the technology and mainstream media during the six months between its introduction at Macworld and Friday evening.

Any concerns about supply, at least at Apple stores, were moot, and queuing for a day or more proved as necessary as snow tyres in Miami. Ninety minutes after Apple started ringing up sales of the iPhone at its 24-hour flagship store on 5th Avenue in New York, anyone could just walk into the store and pick up a device with a minimal wait. In San Francisco, security guards put away the ropes marking the iPhone queue at 7:09pm and starting letting in anyone off the street.

At 7:30pm at San Francisco's 3rd and Market AT&T store, about 25 people were still lined up waiting to receive their iPhones. Two hours before the gadgets went on sale at a different AT&T store a few blocks away, a man who appeared to be a manager assured a customer that they had "a pretty healthy amount" in stock just as the store closed to prepare for the launch.

However, CNET Networks employee Morty Okin, who arrived at the 3rd and Market AT&T store at 5pm to wait for an iPhone received the last 8GB model at 7pm. "After that, a crowd of people dispersed," said Okin, who is photo product manager for CNET Reviews.

Of course, it's way too early to say how well Apple's iPhone sales did on Friday night, and potential buyers should check Apple's retail Web site, where they can figure out how many iPhones are in stock at local Apple stores. As of Friday evening, Apple was projecting that iPhones would be available at every US location on Saturday.

Of course, consumers can also order directly from Apple's Web site.

At New York City's Apple store on 5th Avenue, the tourist-heavy underground retailer with a giant glass cube for an entryway, the scene could only be compared to a massive but well-organised sporting event. The press and spectators were a mob scene, but iPhone hopefuls were kept in a neat single-file line and could only enter and exit the store through a gauntlet of cheering Apple employees. A similar crush of cameras could be found on Stockton Street outside the San Francisco Apple store.

That was also the case at the Apple store in Arlington, Virginia. The final seconds to launch brought a chanted countdown from the front of the line and sport-like cheers of "i-Phone! i-Phone!"

Apple CEO Steve Jobs made a brief appearance at the company's store in downtown Palo Alto, California, interacting with customers and generally overseeing one of the most important launches in the company's history.

The first people in line for the iPhone beamed as they were received inside the Apple stores like rock stars taking the stage. Apple retail employees had set up several demonstration models of the iPhone on white tables through the store, but these customers -- some of whom waited for days -- didn't need to take a test drive.