THE FIRST IPHONE WAS AND WASN’T WHAT YOU THINK by Brian Barett Lyrics
Eight years ago today, I stood in the underground expanse of Apple’s Fifth Avenue flagship store. It had been open barely a year, a glass cube parked in the middle of Manhattan, home to a colorful array of iPod Nanos and plasticky white MacBooks. I was there to watch the very first sales of the very first iPhones.
The line had snaked along several blocks, the ratio of Apple devotees to scalpers the inverse of what you find today. People had waited for days, unshowered but enthralled. Krispy Kreme had handed out donuts. FAO Schwarz, the Apple Store’s iconic neighbor, gave out gift bags to the first 100 (there were so many people, you could divide by hundreds) soon-to-be customers.
The line had snaked along several blocks, the ratio of Apple devotees to scalpers the inverse of what you find today. People had waited for days, unshowered but enthralled. Krispy Kreme had handed out donuts. FAO Schwarz, the Apple Store’s iconic neighbor, gave out gift bags to the first 100 (there were so many people, you could divide by hundreds) soon-to-be customers.