Line waiting, the new American pastime

When I was in New York City yesterday, the bus I was riding on drove past the Apple Store on Fifth Avenue (right across from Central Park and the Plaza Hotel), and there was a huge line of people outside still waiting to buy an iPhone. Other reports in the blogosphere and anecdotally from co-workers have confirmed lines at similar Apple Stores.

Personally, I'm now on Day 6 of waiting on AT&T to deliver my 16GB Apple iPhone 3G, with no new messages from the company, and the very vague "In progress" status on their "check your order" Web page. The company has been holding onto my $299 without providing the device for almost a week now, making the wait even more frustrating.

Fortunately I was able to borrow a co-worker's iPhone and get enough time with it to post the official Cool Tools review, but there are still some additional things that I'd like to do with the new iPhone for other articles. Unfortunately, if this goes beyond the "seven to 10 days" that I was told (I know, they were probably throwing numbers out of their butt just to appease us), I'm losing enthusiasm for it and may end up just canceling the order altogether.

At the time when I was standing in line on July 11, the whole "Order and pay now, and you'll get a device in a week" seemed like the best idea. If I hadn't done that, I would be either waiting in line at the Apple Stores for hours on end like those in New York, San Francisco, Boston, etc., or would be making phone calls to various AT&T stores like some co-workers, hoping for the random glut of iPhones that have come in. One co-worker told me he said an AT&T store member told him that the wait was now 21 days for any direct fulfillment orders. Ugh.

Maybe I missed the boat on the whole "waiting in line" part. Can waiting for the next hot device be the next hot social trend? Line-waiters used to be mocked for their obsessiveness, whether it was waiting in line months in advance for the new Star Wars movie, or camping out for Springsteen or Red Sox tickets. But with advances in technology, as long as you have a laptop, broadband connection and a comfortable chair (and umbrella and appropriate weather gear), you can work and wait at the same time! If you're a blogger, even better, because you can still be social on your social networks while just sitting still. Plus, if you're early enough on line, you can attract the local TV news crews and try to get famous without any hard work, the second new American pastime.

So forget about whether Apple, AT&T and Nintendo screwed up or deliberately produced shortages to create more buzz (I don't buy those arguments). They should be congratulated for creating a new cultural and social activity for Americans to enjoy. And if the government starts to revive the '70s craze of gasoline rationing, there's another line that we can wait in and enjoy. Sure, waiting for gas isn't as fun as waiting for an iPhone, but I'm sure creative people can find a way to spin it into a new venture or blog.