Our man on the street, Wayne Schulz (he’s everywhere) just reported that the lines are beginning to form in front of the Apple Store in New York.

Wayne reports, “According to police the people began lining up this morning. Number one in line is a man and woman with a baby who’ve told the police and security guards that their goal is to set a record for time in line and possibly the first baby to wait with them (or some such nonsense).”

UPDATE:

“At about noon on July 4th while on a trip into New York City I noticed the first line forming for the 3G iPhone at the flagship Apple 5th Avenue Store in New York City. About 10 people in line with the first two being a man and woman with a young child. I talked to the security guards and New York police who will allow everyone to stay and indicated that as of yet there are no plans to put out barricades. It appears that most (if not all) of the people in line are part of some group who may be either attempting to set a record for waiting in line or gain some publicity for themselves. It’s too early to tell if this is a hoax/publicity stunt or whether these folks will stay in line through sun and rain for the next seven days”.

More photos after the break.

Apple iphone new york line.jpg

Update July 5, 2008:

Hard to say that these are true iPhone fans. Seems more likely to be an organized group of some sort out for publicity. When I spoke to the police and security initially they mentioned that the first people in line had said they were also going to purchase phones for Barack Obama and John McCain. This information also appears on a web site (waitingforapples) that seems to have been created by someone affiliated with the group.

Has camping out in line for Apple products taken precedent over football tickets or concerts?

apple line new york.jpg

Rain, heat, arse sores - I got a bad case of the iPhone 3G gotta have it now itch..

There’s no marketing buzz like a iPhone 3G buzz (with unlimited data!) *Text Messaging extra*

apple new york 3g iphone line.jpg

Update July 5, 2008:
It seems more likely that this line is some type of odd family picnic. Remember, we are in New York City!

Philip Elmer-DeWitt from Apple 2.0 has a great interview with the five people who remained in line this morning from the group - check out his article - Who would wait a week in line for an iPhone 3G?

Here’s a short tidbit from a web site that may have been created by someone associated with this crew. Part of the web site claims that the group will purchase an iPhone for Barack Obama and John McCain (which the New York Police told me was what the first people in line said to them when they lined up).

Publicity stunt anyone? Stay tuned to see if this group has anything more than Apple chomping on their agenda:

July 4th, 2008

Happy Independence Day!

We the people love Apples.
Apple iPhones!
The Big Apple!
Apples grown locally in New York State!

We are here on a mission to set a new Guinness World Record for “longest time waiting in line to buy something.”

Until now, there was never anything we felt excited enough to wait for a ridiculous amount of time. We can’t wait for the iPhone 3G.

As the old adage states, “an apple a day keeps the doctor away.” So, for the next seven days, expect to see us eating a lot of Apples, and sharing Apples with our friends. We will have local apple farmers deliver us apples every day. And as the line grows, we will give locally-grown apples to everyone waiting on line.

Athea, Brian, Casey, Dane, Daniel, Dori, Heyward, Lloyd, Kaitlin, Makiko and Yumi.