The waiting is the hardest part
Emily and I got to the Murfreesboro AT&T store at 6:30 a.m. this morning. I had planned to go to the Apple store in Green Hills, but I heard on Twitter that there were already 70 people there, and the line was growing fast. I really didn’t expect there to be this many people at the AT&T store in the ‘boro, but when we got there we counted about 54 people in line in front of us.
At 9:30 a.m. we were let into the store, and were told that they were almost out of black 16GB ones. Luckily I had decided I wanted the white one, so I was good to go. They let 12 people in at first, and had eight reps working on activations. Then as one person would leave, they’d let another in.
Of course, AT&T didn’t really prep for this type of volume (it’s not like they didn’t go thru this last year, right??), so their system was sluggish. The rep that I bought the phone from told me that I would have to go home and activate the phone through iTunes myself–and that it might take a couple of hours.
I’m updating iTunes to 7.7 right now (wish I would have thought of that last night, because it’s taking FOREVER), and will soon begin the activation process. Let’s just hope it works!!
(Oh, also, since the iPhone isn’t activated and they have already shut off my previous SIM card, I am not reachable by phone right now. I will be checking email throughout the day, so please email or Twitter if you need me.)
Update: At 2:30 p.m. I was finally able to get my phone activated through iTunes and am now able to make calls. I’m in the process of loading some music onto the phone, and then will have to transfer all of my contacts from the Shine to the iPhone.
My first impression is that this phone is freaking awesome. I spent a lot of time playing with the iPhones when I worked for Apple over the holidays last year, but there’s just something special about having my own. And I’m glad I went for the white one. I’m going to get a case for it, anyway, but so far I have yet to see a white one in the wild. Although, I haven’t really been out much today. 
After wanting an iPhone since they were first announced last year—and after years of saying if Apple ever came out with a phone I’d own it—I am happy that I finally have one in my hands. And it was well worth the wait.
