I arrived at the Apple store at The Domain in Austin this morning about 6:30. The lines were so long there was no point in trying to get into line quickly, so I decided to spend a few minutes counting the number of people in line.
As I went down the lines counting, I could not believe the amount of stress that I induced in those being counted. People quickly began to worry about whether they were too far back in line to get a phone, or even if they were in the right line. I was stopped about every 25 people asking what their number in line was. I had to explain over and over that I wasn’t counting for any purpose.
For the record, by the time 7 AM rolled around there were 700 total people in the two lines. During that time I’m sure the line grew, because I started with the no-reservation line first, and then proceeded to the reserved line, which wound around the building in a different direction. Between 7AM and 7:20, another 82 people showed up in the reserved line behind me.
