Meet the world's first ten iPhone 3G owners
By Ryan Block 
posted Jul 10th 2008 12:53AM
posted Jul 10th 2008 12:53AM
#1
Name: Jonny Gladwell, 22 (pictured above, right)
Current phone: Sony Ericsson K800i on Voda
Waiting for: more than 48 hours now
Buying: black 8GB
Motivation: to be the first, duh! His girlfriend is just in it to keep him company, she's not actually getting one herself. Jonny tells us he's not going to eBay the world's first iPhone 3G, though. Whatever, dude!
#2
Name: Evert Bruyns, 25 (pictured above, left)
Current phone: garbage, old school Nokia
Waiting for: more than 46 hours
Buying: two black 8GBs, one to give away to the last person in line that doesn't get theirs (aww!), the other to give away on his site, WishCollector.
Name: Annie Ryan, 26 (standing in for her fiancé)
His current phone: Sony Ericsson P910i on Voda
Waiting for: 34 hours
Buying: black 8GB
Her MIA fiancé: dude apparently desperately needs an iPhone, but couldn't wait in line as not only was he expected at work, but their car was towed. Bummer. Clearly he owes Annie big time for waiting.
Name: Luke Soules, 24
Current phone: first-gen iPhone
All the way out from: San Louis Obispo, California, which makes him the only other American as foolhardy as us to fly out for this thing.
Buying: black 8GB
Motivation: plans to do the first iPhone 3G teardown for his site, iFixit. We'll undoubtedly be linking to it!
Name: John Ballinger, 30
Current phone: first-gen iPhone, hardware-hacked on Voda
Waiting for: 8 hours
Buying: 16GB (still deciding on color)
Motivation: mobile developer who's already got applications submitted to Apple for the App Store.
Thoughts on Voda's rate plans: "They suck," and he plans to buy his outright for $1,129 NZD so he doesn't have to use the iPhone-specific plans.
Name: Brian Foose, 28 (pictured above, right)
Current phone: first-gen iPhone, "unlocked" with SIM hack on Voda
Waiting for: 8 hours
Buying: black 16GB
Thoughts on Voda's rate plans: "Insane, absolute crap." Sounds like he'll also be keeping his regular Voda plan.
#7
Name: Steve Simms, 38 (pictured above, middle)
Current phone: first-gen iPhone, software unlocked on Voda
Waiting for: 12 hours (we don't know how Brian Foose ganked his spot)
Buying: (3) black 8GB
#8
Name: Ben Lilley, 19 (pictured above, left)
Current phone: first-gen iPhone, AnySIM-unlocked on Voda
Waiting for: 12 hours
Buying: black 8GB
#9
Name: James MacFarlane, 18
Current phone: first-gen iPhone, AnySIM-unlocked on Voda
Waiting for: 2 hours (that's the way you do it!)
Buying: black 8GB -- same as his pal, #8, Ben Lilley
Thoughts on Voda's rate plans: "Not a big deal, it's all sweet." Given his current usage, he'll only be paying $30 NZD more than he's paying now.
#10
Name: Khai Thay, 22
Current phone: N95 -- and he doesn't like it at all
Waiting for: 30 minutes
Buying: black 16GB
48 hours!? That's hardcore.
try seven days like those dumb hippies at the flagship Apple store in NYC....
but that wouldnt be hardcore because their doing it because they want publicity
most want the 8gb.....seems surprising to me
Oh its sad that no one went for the FIRST post on this article.. that would've been delightfully tacky
@Someguy
It's sad that we were spared such indignity, yet you saw fit to bring it up....
@ wako
i think you're 100% right about them wanting publicity and not being true hardcore fans. Anyways...engadget, this is quite possibly the WORST article i've ever seen posted. I could honestly give two shits about anyone who is the first anything. Unless its 1 of a few things 1) a 100% working delorean time machine, 2) a hoverboard 3) a functioning spaceship or 4) something remotely more unique than a damn iphone.
Yeah, its amazing the trouble some people will go to to put one of these puppies up on eBay for a nice fat profit. And yes, many will end up on eBay.
Hardcore, alright!
But just turn up in the last 5 mins at the end of the queue and #2 guy will give you FREE iphone!
haha 48 hours??? I was thinking more like...
30 minutes??!?!
The 10th guy in line was in the queue for 30 minutes. This is some of the most incredibly ridiculous hype I have ever seen. People were squatting outside Best Buys for days to get hold of game consoles, only to get shot/mugged for them in the parking lot.
I always thought Engadget "could" be in Apple's back pocket... but now I am convinced. Are there any other sites hyping this up like this? (I know BGR comes close) This has just gotten ridiculous!
someone doesn't like the N95???
If it's os is anything like the Nokia "tablets" is it any wonder?
Why does this even matter?
They are showing the dangers of becoming an Apple fan or "over fanboyism" (lets put this word in the dictionary too)
Read the title it says iPhone. This is life changing.
Yea, i'm wondering the same..is there a word stronger than "fanboy" that we can apply here?
We know know why "clak" hasn't been posting... he's the guy who keeps pestering the people in line to let him be the first troll to touch someone else's iPhone....
Where are these guys, and girls, plugging in their laptops??
BEHOLD the mighty power of the lithium rechargeable battery!!
What's really funny is how they are probably jacking that Hotel's wifi.....
Homeless need power too
i can jus see the pink energizer bunny now lol
into the outlet?
my k800i has much better camera (zoom,flash etc) than the new iphone...
sony ericsson ftw!! i use to have a k800 then switched to a 790 because im on cingular now... its a good phone.
Don't back on us now, Jonny.
M600i FTW! woo hoo
I'm glad I read your comment! I was about ready to buy an iPhone 3G, but seeing how the k800i has a better camera, well... need I say more?
Seriously, why in the hell would this matter? I can't believe you guys flew out for this. Get a life, seriously, it's a circuit board and a screen.
yep, i mean also its not like its in short supply -_-, if you don't get it the first day, you will most likely be able to get in the first few days. Geez they are patient enough to wait in line for 48 hours, but impatient to wait couple days to get the phone.
A bomb threat tomorrow morning would rip a few undies. Especially the guy who's car got towed.
I'm still trying to figure out the rate structure.
You really think we flew out just to cover the line-sitters, and not at all because we'll get our hands on a device more than a full day in advance of the US?
Oh, and before you start bitching about ZOMG BIAS!, we also flew all the way out to London for the Touch Diamond. Sometimes you have to go where the news is.
Ryan Block ftw!!
Any excuse is good enough to go and visit New Zealend? Plus its next door to the best place in the universe (Australia)...(not including Tasmania =P).
It's more then just circuit boards, it's practically spiritual!
Ryan will get the phone a whole day ahead of the US. With that he will get an extra whole 806400 seconds of iPhone love in his life. He is Soooo Luckyy!!
And that will enable him to : 1) Destroy all terrorists
2) End world hunger
3) Solve the oil crisis
..??
Behold the power of the Mighty Gadget Man holding aloft the powerful iPhone!! Evil-Doers tremble at the sight.
I know I am crazy but maybe not as crazy as those apple lovers..
Hahahhaahah these fu*#ers actually brought a couch! Guess you're not a hardcore camper unless you bring authentic furniture with n0ob goo on the arm rest!
funniest thing ive read so far... =]
Hahahhaahah these fu*#ers actually brought a couch! Guess you're not a hardcore camper unless you bring authentic furniture with n0ob goo on the arm rest!
yeah it's even funnier the second time..
That's right! Number 8 reporting in!
yeah! hello from your left number 8. this is number 6!!
You guys are lame
Wow... you really did fly all the way to NZ! You know this could've bought a couple of iPhones right?
Wait. Someone from Engadget flew to NEW ZEALAND to cover people sitting outside? wtf
Such a sad state of consumerism.
Ah....i love nz
Mugs.
Is Johnny rocking a Dell?
You cared enough to comment...
Meet the first person who doesn't give a damn.
how do they do this? i mean where do they take a bath? how do they buy meal without leaving the line? what if theres a natures call? or they intentionally do all of that in the line to annoy the next person beside them? XD
yes
Haven't showered all week. Might go wait in line. XD
i've been wondering the same thing myself...
This story being from New Zealand and dealing with the iPhone merits more than a few sheep jokes ...
aaaaaand thats my queue to leave engadget for a few days until all this bs ends. honestly, i thought i saw crap when the last iphone came out, and now you're doing profiles for campers? ugh.
I'm not sure why so many people are getting pissed. I don't really care but I enjoyed the profiles. This is a blog guys, if you don't like something, you can do that "scrolling" thing all the kids are doing these days. It's really cool, trust me. It even takes less time than commenting!
I can still wait a week after. No need to get stinky falling in line that long :-)
That #2 dude is really cool :) Waiting that long to give one away on his site and then the other to the last person on line that didn't get one? Wow. How would he deal with the activation?
Here they are, the top ten contenders for the title of World's Biggest Loser!
Give 'em a round of applause folks, they deserve it.
Coming in at number 1 is.... Joppa!
Please come to the stage to collect your award....
all that for an overpriced phone. seriously?
Overpriced? You gotta be kidding me. What about N95 ?
@Phreak
You haven't seen the two year contract they rape you with. Its like, yea, I'll sell you a Ferrari for fifty bucks but the wheels are an extra $100,000 each, these are the only ones that will fit, and I'm the only one selling them. Trust me, our network provider has a very captive audience. Does this scale of consumer exploitation happen in a normal competitive market?
its so funny how they are camping out in front of a hotel
How is he going to eBay a subsidized phone?
what the hell is so "BREAKING" about this....
I heard a rumor that they have WMDs and oil hidden there.
ok you can spend hundreds of dollars flying out to NZ, but cant spend enough money to do a dead simple solid state vs hdd comparison.
that is it. this post proves with out a doubt that engadget is full of apple fan boys. im sorry. but i will take my readings elsewhere from now on. call me when you stop sucking steve's dick.
aahhh stop whining and lighten up. They're just having a bit of harmless fun!!
Oh, "THIS" was it. Will be taking his "readings" elsewhere. (Like maybe down to the coffee shop's poetry slam, perhaps?) Call when dick-sucking stops.
OK, but I'll be honest: I'm not sure anyone's going to call you.
Knock it off. You won't be able to resist typing that same sort of message when even MORE posts on the iPhone are flooding Engadget. Look in the mirror: You're hooked!
See you tomorrow!
Hmmm... no hotties in that line.. guess the bouncers let anyone through..
How ironic that the FIRST guy in line isnt even touting an Apple laptop. I thought it was one of those 'things you just dont do while waiting like a fool for an extended period of time to buy an Apple product.' I mean, if you are going to be THAT much of a tool.. you might as well don the right gear. Bunch of kiwis...
hahah.. check the guy's face in the window in the last pic.. classic..
whats so classic about that? isn't it just a cardboard sign?
Just for the record - wouldn't Walt Mossburg and a handful of other people like Stevey J be the first people to own an iPhone 3G? You mean 'these are the first ten people most likely to be able to buy one in 48 hours...'.
Which really only makes it even more pathetic. :)
No shit, jazazze... I mean, I am not rushing out to buy this thing but good god, every time Engadget posts something about the iPhone the haters come out in droves. They're worse than the fanboys and I swear they double the comments. I have a first gen iPhone and I quite like it. I'm going to stick with it for a while.
Good god, this is a blog site, not a news site and if the editors feel it's prudent to post about something then let them. If you don't like it, go ahead, voice your opinion but for the love of all that's holy you don't have to be nasty about it.
I do have to agree, flying out to interview people? I don't recall this kinda attention for the Wii, PS3, or 360 Launches despite shorter availability especially the Wii (come on, it still is hard to find).
Totally biased journalism. And you claim its because of what people want, but if the media hadn't hyped up the iPhone it would need the 'coverage'. It still lacks MMS (use it), still lacks Video Recording (concerts anyone), still lacks AIM and Multitask OS. Its that Symbian, Palm, and Windows Mobile do fine in those regards. I know an apple fan who is a friend of mine that wanted an iPhone, and I said no AIM yet (don't know how well it will be implemented) and he won't swtich from his $60 crap samsung that does haev AIM.
i dont care what anyone says, waiting in line for the 360 for a night was fun as hell(3 hour intense game of uno anyone?). i couldnt imagine doing it for more than 3 days though.
"Buying: two black 8GBs, one to give away to the last person in line that doesn't get theirs (aww!), the other to give away on his site, WishCollector."
I don't understand.... the person would have gotten one if this guy weren't buying it just to give it to that person...
Hahahaha. Touchè.
But they dont have to pay. Nice guy.
How does crap like this get "FEATURED" on Engadget? I don't understand why anyone cares that these people are the first to get the second version (likely of many) of the iPhone. Is this really THAT big of a deal? Practically everything else I read on Engadget today is more notable than this.
Really just wanna know one thing: copy/cut/paste?
I will make line for ticket concerts but for a phone no way.
Only 4 pages of Engadget posts tagged about the new iPhone?! BUT WE NEED MOAR HYPEZ!!! I live for teh iFone newz!1!!1!
What losers. I will be buying an iphone 3g when all the fuss has died down.
Yeah they went all that way to take 5 pictures... I guess if I wanted one I might try talking my company into flying me out there so I didn't have to pick up the tab.
Haha! I have just seen Ryan Block on the Primetime news here in NZ!
For such a great launch, NZ hasnt got many handsets ... a reliable source at Vodafone NZ tells me there are just 389 in NZ for the launch day!
I agree. To fly to NZ is absurd. It also shows Engadet clearly lacks any environmental morals to boot.
You were saying?
On the bright side, they won't be able to reply to people calling them 'douches', at least 'till they get the phones.
im going there tomorrow to see if theres a display phone out there and i live in Auckland too
But you fail to include those in Wellington and Christchurch (yes we have our very own iPhone fan-boi on steak-out!).. given the obscene Data charges by Voda .. we're not planing on using ANY data at all.
- heading down to see how he's doing in a couple of hours .. its cold (but not freezing) .. there are plenty of "Temples of Bad Food" around for sustenance.
Heheh. I've been walking past theses guys for the last couple of days to get to and from class. That Vodafone store also just hired a security guard just for today/tonight who has just been hanging out with the queue ;)
Go NZ!! :D
Seriously dude, why bother? Just give it a rest already.
?!?! WHY does no1 realize there are three stores in NZ opening at mid-night, so these people arent necessarily going to be the first ten.
Stop with the bs hype. Publish the stupid plans and prices vodafone is trying to push.
Yes your right. The first 10 iPhone owners is a load of BS. 3 of the dudes in Auckland will be lucky to get the first ten iPhones.
There's nothing more sad than seeing a bunch of goobers sitting on a couch in the middle of winter waiting for a damn phone. It's so damn cold here right now and it's going to hit 1 degress in the evening tonight, with rain. Look at them, 'blogging' away on their computers looking oh so pretentious, updating their blog telling the world they've just taken a dump and it was the shape of an iPhone. This sort of 'geekness' gives Apple users a bad name. No wonder the PC world thinks we're up our own arses. I'll get mine after the hype.