This is PATHETIC!!!!!! Get Paid To Wait In Line For An iPhone People with free time and entrepreneurial spirit are posting ads on Craigslist offering to wait to buy iPhones for other people -- charging as much as the cost of the iPhone itself. By Mitch Wagner InformationWeek Jun 28, 2007 06:01 AM If you stand on line to buy an iPhone Friday, some of the people around you could be paid to be there, buying iPhones for other people. Craigslist is running ads from people offering to either hold a place in line for iPhone customers, or to buy the phones outright. Why do they do it? "Money, pure and simple," said Kim Foster, of Chicago, Ill. "Just bought my first home and money is very tight, as you could imagine. I've heard of people doing this for other items, Xbox, etc., and thought it was a very smart idea. So I thought I'd give it a go." Line-standers include Brandon Phenix, of Wrigleyville, Chicago. "I'm a fourth-grade teacher and I have nothing to do this week, and I thought this would be good way to earn money," he said. He made sure to include his profession in the ad, which, he said, makes the ad stand out. "The keywords make people think I'm trustworthy -- which I am," he said. He said Wednesday he's gotten five calls in response to his Craigslist posting, and bidding for his services has gone up to $350. He expects to charge $500 when the bidding war is done. Phenix's biggest concern: People cutting in line. "I'm specifically looking for a place where there's less people, and less likelihood of that happening," Phenix said. He said he called around to see if local stores were planning extra security or giving out numbers to waiting customers, but found they weren't. One Las Vegas line-stander has a plan for cutters. "We're aggressive when it comes to line cutters," says the ad. "(We will cap any mother** that tries to cut in line )." Yikes. Line-standing is a grueling business, requiring specialized skills and equipment and (according to that Las Vegas ad) a killer instinct. Many line-sitters are planning on bringing, appropriately enough, iPods to keep themselves entertained. Foster quips that she has "top secret" waiting techniques, and may bring her dog. "Bring a chair, bring lots of food, a book, just make sure you're comfortable," said Joshua Palmer, 16, who lives on the east side of San Francisco Bay. Palmer is charging $400 to hold a place in line for a man who wants to buy the iPhone as a gift for his son's birthday. Palmer works part-time at Moonstruck, a cafe that sells high-end chocolate. He also has experience buying past high-demand electronic products like the Nintendo Wii and Sony PS3, and selling them at a markup on eBay. That's not possible with the iPhone, because he's too young to sign up for the service plan, he said. And if you don't want to pay someone to wait in line for you, you can pay someone to create a diversion
This is EVEN MORE PATHETIC: Pranksters-For-Hire To Help iPhone Buyers Sneak Ahead In Line An outfit called "Over Here, Jerks!" will release a wild animal or do some other stunt that causes lines of iPhone buyers to disperse. By Mitch Wagner InformationWeek Jun 27, 2007 07:06 PM Worried about long lines to buy an iPhone on Friday? A San Francisco man said he and his band of pranksters will create a diversion to distract everybody else in line and allow you to slide right up to the front. The company -- called "Over Here, Jerks!" -- will go to Apple or AT&T stores and release a wild animal, let loose a bad smell, or do something else disgusting, shocking, or scary. The plan: Everybody in line runs away, except for the company's client, who'll be first up for service. "You might even have time to grab a few lawn chairs, sleeping bags, and sandwiches amid the mayhem!" according to the group's Craigslist ad. The company will work Market Street in San Francisco, charging $50 for the first three attempts and $10 for each additional attempt. "It's like a text-messaging plan," said organizer Matt Grimmer of San Francisco, who works by day as a biologist and cancer researcher. The group includes amateur magicians, people who work at a petting zoo, and people with skills in camouflage techniques. The iPhone event is just the launch of the company, which plans to go into business creating divisions for other events, Grimmer said. "If you're bad at chess, if you want to get your neighbor back for something, you can hire us," he said. "We won't get involved in a crime, but we'll create a diversion to give people an opportunity to do what they need to do." This will be the company's professional debut at causing diversions. Past attempts, done for love rather than money, included dressing a man up in a banana suit and having him fake a seizure at a high school graduation, Grimmer said. "We wanted to cause a goof to get people distracted to mess up the order of things while it was going on," Grimmer said. "When there's a number of people walking in a group, we thought we could throw one little hitch into the ceremony and the whole thing collapses." He added, "It wasn't as successful as we'd like it to be, but we started talking about it, and we're confident we can do better." For one thing, the company plans to incorporate animals into its diversions, rather than people in costumes. For another, it plans to cause multiple diversions in rapid succession. "We'll put a dirty diaper on someone's back, and get someone to yell, then get something disgusting or frightening coming from another direction. Nothing harmful. Play on people's weaknesses for about 10 seconds, that's all it takes," Grimmer said.
June 27, 2007 04:44:02 pm, Categories: Technology, 192 words First guy in line for iPhone has been waiting since Monday First in Line for iPhone Guy, otherwise known as Greg Packer, has been waiting outside Apple's flagship store in Midtown Manhattan ever since he plopped down in a folding chair near the entrance at 5 am Monday morning. When our intrepid photo editor (thanks Emily!) shot this at around 11 this morning, he'd been sitting there for more than 48 hours. He's got 60 to go. Frankly, he's looking better today than he was on Monday, which leads me to suspect that folks are saving each others' places in line while they run out for bathroom breaks, food and possibly even showers. I've seen techno-lust before, but never of this scale. (Of course I missed the PS3 debut in Union Square last November, when fights broke out.) Greg here is a veteran of that line, and countless others. In an odd twist, it turns out that the man is so good at being First in Line Guy, whatever the debut, that he has appeared in over 100 different news stories--so many that in 2003, the AP banned its reporters from using him as a source. (Good thing we're not holding ourselves to their standards.)
Same thing happens the day after Thanksgiving for those incredible deals - teenagers offer to wait in line for you for a fee. It's a great entrepreneurial idea! Releasing wild animals is a bit much, but paying to hold your spot in line is a good one.
What is even more offending is that the so called 'reputable media' is even reporting this. Nevermind the more pressing issues facing Americans. The media is always catering to the techie losers, perverts, illegal aliens, and enemy combatants. The average hard working American is always left out of the equation. Ron Paul 08
not really; just more of the "hype-I-have-to-be-first-to-get-one"...but the demand may outweight the current supply.
Actually this is not true. There is a "limited" supply of I-Phones and they are expected to be completely out sometime this week. If you did not get one, you will probably be waiting a while before the next supply hits. I was at the Apple store in Chicago today and the frenzy over this phone was unreal. I have to admit, this is one cool phone. You really have to see it to appreciate it. There are too many features to mention and the Apple website does not do it justice.
Hard to believe all the hype surrounding these gayphones. Freaking Apple has these dingleberries by the shorthairs. Frankly, anyone that isnt buying one of these to resell to an imbecile, is an imbecile.