"It's about to the point where either I'm going to do this and stay, or I'm going to walk away," DeSantis said, standing in line with an estimated 60 fellow gadget types, both inside and outside the Walnut Street store.
Apple lovers worldwide lined up outside Apple and AT&T stores before sunrise Friday to be among the first to own the new-generation iPhone. Spots near the front door of the Shadyside Apple store were being sold for $35 each by one enterprising customer.
The debut, however, was marred by technical breakdowns, which forced some customers across the country to leave stores without a working phone. AT&T Inc. said a worldwide breakdown in Apple's iTunes service prevented some shoppers from activating the faster handset at its stores as planned.
"By the time we opened the doors two hours early, at 8 a.m., the line stretched about four blocks," said Danielle Kovac-Kropczynski, the Shadyside store's senior assistant store manager.
The store was scheduled to stay open an additional two hours to 11 p.m.
By midafternoon yesterday, the iTunes glitch appeared to be fixed.
"It's taking us between 15 minutes and 30 minutes per activation, depending on whether people have all the proper information," Kovac-Kropczynski said. "We're making sure that people, when they leave here, are personally activated."
"It's definitely a rare item," said Tim Oster, 23, of Ross, who stood in a long line outside of the Shadyside store to get the original iPhone last year.
The phone went on sale yesterday at Apple and AT&T stores in 24 countries. The biggest new features include GPS (Global Positioning System) capability, as well as faster Internet service through AT&T's 3G broadband connection network.
"When I called the store, they told me the wait was about 3 or 3 1/2 hours, but that they had a good inventory and shouldn't run out of the new phones," said Brian Stover, of Franklin Park.
Stover, like many of those in line along Walnut Street, had started the day at an AT&T store more convenient to his residence. The only problem with that strategy, though, was that Apple's iPhone partner had limited numbers of the new-generation iPhones in stock in some cases.
"I stood at the Cranberry AT&T store from about 8 to 10:30, then they gave me an order slip for the phone because they ran out," Stover said. "I figure they had around 50 phones. But I decided to come down here."
"I think they only had about 30 at the Strip District AT&T," said Shai Borochov, of Lawrenceville.
In line for about an hour by 3 p.m., Borochov said he was willing to wait because he is going out of town and wants to be able to use the GPS capabilities.
"This is an iconic wireless device, and there has been a lot of buzz about it," said Bob Beasley, spokesman for AT&T Wireless -- the exclusive provider of the iPhone. "We're expecting huge demand for the device."
Current iPhone users, new AT&T customers or present customers eligible for an upgrade discount can purchase the 8-gigabyte model for $199, or the 16-gigabyte model for $299. If consumers don't fall into any of the three customer categories, the phone will cost $399 or $499, respectively. Phones are limited to one per person.
Internet blogger Justine Ezarik, 24, of Carnegie said she plans to spend part of her North Carolina vacation finding an AT&T Wireless store, where she can upgrade to the iPhone 3G.
"It's more for the experience to be there with all these other crazy Apple fans," said Ezarik, who recently wrote about her iPhone obsession on her blog, Tasty Blog Snack. "It's the new iPhone, and I gotta have it."
Also available is the iPhone 2.0 software update for existing phones, which is identical to the software in the iPhone 3G.
"The real news is the new software," said Charles Firth, owner of Firth Consulting in Dormont, which specializes in Macintosh software and computer systems. "For people like myself who already have the iPhone, there's nothing super-compelling about upgrading unless you're really gung-ho about the faster Internet and GPS."
Those features are why Oster said he plans to upgrade, although he understands why some might not be as excited.
"I don't know that the hype is as big, because last year at this time, there was nothing really like it at all through any phone company," he said.
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