iPhone camping rule of thumb: don't wear a suit
By Thomas Ricker 
posted Jul 9th 2008 7:21AM
posted Jul 9th 2008 7:21AM
It's T-minus iPhone 3G and counting and the international queuing has begun in earnest... and in Tokyo. This is the line outside of SoftBank's flagship store in Harajuku as captured by Akihabara News. Now, let's forget about the first guy, look at our boy number three, Mr. Anonymous Good Posture. With 2 more days 'til launch and the unboxing and reviews already done, pictures of his rapid state of dishevelment might be the most interesting thing we see come Friday. One more picture of the absurdity after the break.
lifeless nerd pretending to be life-full.
"I'm only sitting here because my pregnant sister wants an iPhone and I'm too much of a pansy to stand up to her and say No."
only otaku go to Akihabara anyway. You can't fake it in Japan, there's no casual nerd there.
Those guys work at engadget.
LOL that's everyone on this website!
Actually, the guy in the suit is the bodyguard.
thats just what we wear in TK.
Heeey!! :@
Oi :ç
this is a professional queue liner, you can hire them for couple of hours or a day, so you may go home, shower, sleep and eat some decent food.
Professional queue liner xD Gotta get me a degree in queue lining!
Wow, those Japanese people really take their nerdiness seriously.
Or he's there for his asshole boss.
And don't folget to weal a suit when leplesenting me!
hey, my brother does that for congressmen in DC. sweet.
@ Andreas - the Japanese actually don't have the "L" sound in their syllabary, so your racist comment is all the more stupid for that.
Anyone else notice all the ads on craigslist for people offering to wait in line for you for $200. LOL People are dumb.
@QZ,
You are wrong, their R sound actually combines the L sound. So when you say a word like ramen, it should actually be pronounced 'RL'amen.
Sorry, it is hard to show in written format.
That is the source of the Japanese problem with R and L, they find it hard to differentiate the sounds and are often taught in school to just pronounce using kana. If you pronounce the word using kana as the phonetic way of reading the word out loud, then of course you would have an L sound in there, because that is how they pronounce it.
@Simon:
It's the same in Korea. Some of my Korean friends can say "l" or "r", but it's very difficult without a lot of practice.
Despite knowing this, I still bite my lip sometimes when my Korean friends say to me, "Oh rearry?"
Back on topic, this guy's hardcore to be waiting outside in a suit. It's pretty hot and humid in Japan now. (He must have a bottle of body deodorant spray on him somewhere.)
i have some korean friends but they never really explained why they had trouble with some words. girl always came out as girr. very funny, but nice to know now.
Was this a sore attempt from Engadget to bring down Akihabara News? o.O
I want a pair of those cool shades everyone seems to be wearing
ive seen them around on a site some were but i cant seam to find them,
Fake.
They're only $10 a pop. http://is.gd/P37
That is pretty amazing that they actually do sell such a thing... almost worth the $10 just to have a pair.
Yeah, Engadget. What is up with the censorbars on the pictures? Why would showing people in a public place be a problem?
Me thinks your lawyers have entirely too little to do.
@Harkonian
I don't think it matters that they are in public. Obviously the law is different for different countries, but I'm pretty sure people have to sign a release to appear in published photos, even if they were in public at the time.
I wish that was me...wait.
by the way, is that his mom sitting right next to him?
I don't think she looks old enough to be his mum.. but just in case..
MILF!!
Wonder what would happen if a bunch of New Zealanders with new iPhone 3Gs came along and started making calls near this line.
The space-time continuum would surely collapse on itself.
"Granted, that's a worst-case scenario. The destruction might, in fact, be very localized, limited merely to our own galaxy."
You know whats more absurd? Posting 'breaking news' about clowns lining up at different stores days ahead of time to buy it. Kinda puts you in the same class of 'Apple Tools'
It does have a whole manufactured buzz vibe to it. People going through the motions for the sake of going through the motions.
It's the same phone with a different black plastic back and 3G. Ok?
It feels like most of these news outlets are kinda wandering around in the dark looking for some way to get some hype going, mainly for page views.
Ain't that the truth.
You can just *feel* the Apple PR manipulation going on, and Engadget and the sad little queuing fanboys are all playing along like good little poodles.
Any chance of some real news please Engadget? Thanks.
This article doesn't even have the breaking news tag.
That and they have had how many "unboxing" postings. Seriously, its the same fucking box with 95% of the same contents in every country. The only major differance is the power adapter included in the box.
Bloody iNoobs!!
"Who'll I work with?"
"STANDARD NEEEEERDS!"
I'd love to have a boss like that...
NOOOOOT
I reckon he was just on his way to work, and thought it was the queue for the bus!
His Queue-Fu is greater than yours
Laaaaaaammmmmmmmmmeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
I enjoy the thought bubble =)
That is no thought bubble. That's a painted board he made at home and pasted to his last-gen shades. Or are you insinuating Engadget uses Photoshop/Gimp with hilarious intentions?
Yes . . . the reverse thought bubble was brilliant! LOL
If that's a painted board, then that is one humongous woman approaching from the right in the first picture.
@ bondsbw - Haha. Glad I'm not the only one who noticed that.
Still thought the reversed bubble was funny though...
I wish I were as classy as this guy in his suit.
I say we need a Truman Show-esque live webcam setup on him post haste!
If we can't have that, hurry up and get Ryan over there liveblogging!