Are You An iDiot? Camping Out For The iPhone

I'll admit that I have some Mac biases, but I am not one of those Apple evangelists who wait with bated breath as Steve Job announces his latest and greatest iGadget. Last year, the lines for the newfangled iPhone went around the block in many cities, and today's release of the iPhone 3G is gearing up to feature more of the same. The Daily News covers the crowd on page 2 today, complete with photos of folks camped out yesterday in front of the Apple Store at 59th and Fifth. The question many, myself included, have is "Why?" The last graph of the story notes that "The long waits may not be necessary…Apple will likely have enough phones on hand to satisfy all comers in major cities like New York."

Again, it's an easy story to cover. It's like shooting fish in a barrel: head to an Apple Store, chat with a few people, add an expert or two and file. Heck, even advocacy groups know this is a publicity slam-dunk. The Daily News talks to a member of the White House Organic Farm Project, a group that has been camping out in front of the Apple Store since July 4. As one member put it, "Waiting here to get the iPhone allows us to engage people in talking about food security and local farming." Yeah, because the most logical leap when thinking about the iPhone is local farming.

The Post has no pictures of people lined up. Instead, its page-9 coverage features a graphic that makes it look like the story was pulled up on the device. The story concentrates on how people are making money to buy the new version of the device by selling their old one. One person in line talks about how he "gave up a happy hour tonight and a gorgeous date for the iPhone." Chances are if he goes on that date and spends most of the night talking about his new gadget, he'll be giving up any chance for another "gorgeous date," unless she's a hardcore tech geek. Then she might understand.