Standing in Line at Sprint

With five months of anticipation from the January CES show to early June, the Pre was possibly going to be as big as the iPhone. Two years ago, the lines were epic (see my iPhoneLansing blog post). This time, not quite so much. Still, with the Sprint store opening at 8:00 am on a Saturday, I figured to have a chance if I got up at 6, and arrived at the local store at about 6:30 am. No problem -- there was one person in a chair at the head of the line and 3 others in cars. I got out my lawn chair and became #2 in line.

About five minutes later, the first Sprint employee arrived, and the other folks decided to join the line. By 7am, several Sprint employees had arrived and about as many buyers.At 7:30, a friendly Sprint employee (he'd chatted with us before going in when he arrived), came out with numbered flyers and handed them out to the 20 or so folks in line. A few more stragglers arrived close to 8, and he came out again and gave them numbered forms, too. The line was 25 long.

At 8, they let the first 6 of us in. They had 3 cashier stations and also 3 other sales people. Folks waiting could play with the demo model. One staffer was in charge of helping us activate the phone and anseriing immediate questions. As each person checked out, they let another person in the door. All in all very orderly. They said they had 30 phones, so everybody got one. When I called back later on in the day, they were sold out, but with more expected in a Monday shipment.

I guess I coulda slept in.