At the Apple store on Fifth Avenue in New York, the first in line were already camped out on Wednesday.
Sightings of the device already in the possession of a privileged few were being reported, even photographed and posted on the Internet.
Rumors have it that shipments are arriving in the dark of night, accompanied by armed guards.
All this for a cellphone.
Steve Jobs, known for his marketing wizardry, has apparently convinced thousands of people that the Apple iPhone is no ordinary phone. But even those accustomed by now to the Apple chief executive’s well-orchestrated product rollouts are struck by the frisson of anticipation he has managed to generate.
By one estimate, two-thirds of the population of the United States seem to be aware of the device, which combines a cellphone with an iPod with Internet access.
It will finally be available at 6 p.m. today – but only to those willing to wait in lines that promise to stretch for blocks.
Wall Street analysts expect Apple and its partner AT&T to sell about three million phones within the first weeks
“It’s masterful when you really think about it,” said Jeremy Horwitz, the editor in chief of iLounge, a popular online publication read by iPod and iTunes users.
“Ask yourself how many companies can announce a product six months in advance and not just sustain public interest but even build the frenzy. It’s staggering to me.”
Pre-introduction product hype and hysteria is not new, of course. Just ask any 12-year-old Harry Potter fan or middle-age “Star Wars” cultist.
Last year, video game addicts slept on sidewalks outside Sony stores to be the first to buy the PlayStation 3.
But ever since Apple first let the world know about the Macintosh computer in 1984, with its Super Bowl commercial, the company has become the standard-bearer in drum roll marketing for consumer electronics.
The iPhone is arriving tightly wrapped in Apple’s trademark secrecy.
Employees at the 164 Apple stores and 1,800 AT&T Wireless stores were trained this week in how to use the iPhone, but they were given few other details that might come in handy.
— The New York Times