I Came. I Saw. I Activated.

 

Last night around 8:44 PM, I became one of the 60 coolest people in Monterey, California.

Usually on the Monterey Peninsula, this degree of uber-cool is reserved for the hipsters at the Monterey Jazz Fest or Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

But last night, the diehards at the Del Monte Shopping Center AT&T Store beamed way past the Tony Bennetts and the Bill Murrays. In the geek world of glitter and glam, it’s all about the getting your hands on the iPhone.

I was one of the lucky ones. I didn’t have to camp out overnight or even bring a chair like my neighbor-in-line, Nancy. I showed up at 4:45 armed with a Grande Cappuccino, slumped against the fake mall-wall granite and caught up on a stack of yellowing Wall Street Journals. Around me, the chatter was all about Apple, of course, the ease of at-home activation, the brilliance of the launch, the embargo on hard facts — such as, how many iPhones were actually inside the sealed bags we saw as we hugged the AT&T store windows, fogging them up like the drooling groupies we were?

Speaking of rock stars, Steven, the AT&T store manager, magically appeared every so often with updates. We couldn’t tell if he genuinely didn’t know how many units were stashed behind the counter or if he was merely trying string along the growing line of geeks who would leave iPhone-less that evening. The enticement was: stick around and order — which rocketed you to the head of the list — and get the real thing in 2-4 weeks. Those poor unfortunate, cool-impaired souls who did not fully understand the urgency of braving the lines, would have to wait for months. Even Manager Steven was forced into geek oblivion by the AT&T employee requirement to stay away from the goodies for an interminable 30 days.

By 6:01 the line was bulging and swaying so much that a man driving by our little crowd shouted: ‘Hey, is this for American Idol?’

By 7:50, we were starting to worry. We knew that they were only letting 8 customers in the store at a time. We had seen very few ’survivors’ emerge. ‘Backpack Dude’, our symbol of fortitude, was stuck in the clog at the door. Steven had twice been outside to count. This did not bode well in terms of the mysterious inventory.

Life went on. Nancy’s husband went to buy her at burrito (no rice) at the Chipolte nearby. Nahme’s wife showed up with their 3-year old, fresh from visiting the sea otters at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. My daughter arrived with her girlfriend and left quickly, deeply embarrassed by her nerd mother. The conversation around me was shifting to the merits of porta-potties. We all were grateful for the gorgeous 70 degree Monterey weather and Apple’s genius in not launching during snow season.

Steven did another count. Nancy and I plus two guys behind us made the cut. Everyone else was given the ordering option. Not a single person ditched.

It’s 7:56 PM and I text my daughter proclaiming: “I’m IN! (Need catheter)

Inside, I am assigned to a logo-shirted AT&T rep named Jolene, who zips me through the AT&T disclaimers, which I am asked to initial: Activation. Rate Plans. Service and Support. Jolene, flushed, is fighting for a computer. Do I want to keep my Blackberry? Yes. I am addicted to my ‘Crackberry’ and not sure if I can switch from one high to the next (iPhone) that easily. We wait a few minutes for the server to catch up with the deluge and she shows me a variety of iPhone cases. I decline. I will be visiting the mother ship soon and can see the full line while on the Apple campus.

8:43 PM Here comes my receipt — plus of packet of AT&T coupons, etc. AT&T clearly has been working overtime on all fronts to try to handle the launch. Still, everything that is AT&T is orange and blue — the old colors cheap printers always used. When Jolene hands me the oddly sealed orange-white- blue bag with its precious iPhone inside, the cool gap between AT&T and Apple jumps in your face.

8:44 PM I rip open the bag. There it is, as sleek, slim and smug as Mr. Jobs himself.

I skip about 3 events so I can speed home, get online and get activated via my heavily-used iTunes account.

9:17 PM This pursuit of cool has worn me out. I figure there is a possibility I still may be relatively hip for another 8 hours or so. I slip my iPhone into its cradle — and I slip into mine.

Part 2: I activate!