I'll stroll up to my local AT&T store sometime between 7-8, and see if there's a line or not...they told me there had been about 25-30 people there for the 1G, so I'm curious to see if there are as many people so flustered over this new contraption...

Chromeo

Nice, now the New Zeland people have gone mad too...

ProSeven

where are his nudes??

Tohe

I'm sure there are hundreds of behind the scenes people all over the world who have one before this guy. The most these queue jockeys can hope for is :

1. Being the first in the queue at their particular store to get an iPhone.
2. Getting a life one day.

Me - I'm waiting for the fuss to die down and see if I'm going to be royally screwed by o2 for an upgrade, only to find out that the iPhone 3G can't be used as a modem, or that some finance crippling bolt-on is the only way to achieve it.

Gizmo

Heh. I hear a lot of sour grapes from all y'all.

Matthew Miller

@ProSeven: Don't forget Japan. A country where they made a national holiday out of a game's release...just to make it better about people not showing up for work.

Dreadfish

This guy seems to be setting off all kinds of records because he will also be the first in the WORLD to get screwed by Apple on the iPhone 3G.

I waited on iPhone 1.0 release and got me a $200 savings, let's see what this release has in store to screw with people...I mean after all Apple has a track record for doing that sort of thing.

WD40

How sick must you be to camp in front of a shop.
Doesn't he have friends to spend the time with?
Doesn't those people have families to be with?
Don't they have nothing in their lifes but lifeless things?
America is the only country in the whole world where this sick behavior was noticed.

ProSeven

camping out in front of a hotel, hilarious

analyticalmind84

Nice chair, wonky tent, silly branded hoodie, faux poly-mix jeans, missing fingers, uneven trainers, no wallet or safe, stand outside of a hotel; I am suspicious, are you this wasn't someones trick last night or will be tonight?

sonophy

be funny if he got picked up for loitering

Y2KGTP

Video - What are others doing with their iPhones

yummyporky

he seems so happy... oh dear... i really, really don't understand him an the others queueing during the night just for a phone. strange planet we live on...

Monel

So you have a 3G iPhone. You paid a ridiculous amount of money for an item that's already past its internet fame prime. But hey, you did get your own article on Gizmodo, so good on you!

Hvedhrungr

what about store employees?

Y2KGTP

the question is, who is going to be the first to drop their 3g iphone? or smash it? oohh.. how much is it going for on ebay.. who gives a shit already.

dorylomorphs

@secretmanofagent: Copy cat.

This guy should get a life, I mean really...where is his girlfriend/wife? Does he even have a job!?

carmen loves sexist gizmodians

First person besides the people who developed it and already have one.

secretmanofagent

he might be the only non-apple affiliated consumer, what about jobs? i'm sure he has one.

carmen loves sexist gizmodians

Well isn't he special! *yawns*

bbfreak

wow. get a job fucker.

Buzzed

Uhhh, it could also be someone in Wellington, or Christchurch ... they're all in the same time zone silly.

aelver

@Samifumi: Very true, I went to starbucks once and I was waiting to be waited on and I turn around for a second and theres FOUR people behind me. I am going to do this at other places, such as shopping malls and grocery stores.

carmen loves sexist gizmodians

P.S. Often I wonder if media outlets (including weblogs) didn't glorify this idiocy, would it even exist? No one feels compelled to wait in line until they see others doing it beforehand.

Samifumi

"My friend in NZ waited in line all night for the first 3g iphone... and all I got was this stupid comment."

pernod

He's not smiling because he'll get the first iPhone 3G (there are Apple/AT&T employees who have been tinkering with it for months). He's smiling because he doesn't have a job and yet, he still has enough jack to splurge on an iPhone.

Samifumi

@Tohe: If they are around...I don't want them

carmen loves sexist gizmodians

fat first in line guy will not be pleased

albokay

Just go the next day. When the first one dropped, people were waiting for days before it launched to get one, and then my sisters and I walk in the next day to an Apple Store, no line, and pick ours up no prob. 24 hours won't kill you.

And waiting in winter? Indeed, they have gone mad as well.

NightElfMohawk

Geez. Why u guys hatin?! At least he'll be in Wikipedia, which is more than any of you guys can say.

_badtziscool

Not if i have anything to do with it. My plan is to show up 1 minute before the launch with 10000 body guards and just cut the line! Take that!

HawkSkater0

He may be one of the first to pay an iPhone bill. He is soooo lucky....

jenheta

Wow, I will just walk in a day after and get one. Well rested because I slept in my own bed.

theshortguy

::crickets::

ajadoniz

So that's what a twat looks like!

ANoel

Attention whore. All these fanboys are like, "Look at me! Look at me! I have an iPhone, I'm special." What a joke.

xAppleFan

Why is this guy considered the first in the world? What about the people that are 1st in line at other stores in New Zealand? Or is it only coming out in 1 location for the Kiwis?

Der182

Does anyone remember who got the very first in the world 1st generation iPhone? What about the first RAZR or the first iPod?

Not news & quickly forgotten- not a dig on Giz, but a dig on the dude.

tinyhands

and he gets to pay 186 USD a month for it. well, that's just awesome. i'm so happy for him.

[www.vodafone.co.nz]

digitalhen

@yummyporky:

Don't EVER MAKE ME GO THROUGH THAT EVER AGAIN.

I almost bled my eyes out. x.x

kumuasata

iPhone-related articles on Giz bring out such warmth and love.... Or is it the radiant heat from all the shit they fling at the articles that I'm feeling?

It's shit....

dcdttu

@digitalhen:

I thought only Rogers iPhone Voice & Data plans sucked. Vodaphone iPhone plans are worse.

imagine-engine

All the jealousy from all you 9-5 guys is just laughable. What if he created a business that employs 10 people and runs so efficiently he can just check in just once a week?

If you guys hate your job so much, get a new one. This world is not about making compromises, it's about living your dreams. It's not about OR, it's about AND.

It's not, should I buy a Porsche or a Mercedes? It's, who do I need to be to have a Porsche AND a Mercedes?

Chester_Copperpot

@Gizmo:

The iPhone 3G doesn't support Bluetooth DUN. If Apple allows it in the future then we would either have to wait for a software update or possibly someone to release a user friendly app through the app store.

imagine-engine

@GT500Shlby: Ya thats my plan, if there is a big line screw it. I will get it the next day.

theshortguy

I'm going to go to my local AT&T store around 7:30am the day of to see if there is a line. I doubt it will be much though, there are 12 AT&T stores and 2 Apple stores near where my shore house is. I waited before purchasing an iPhone 1.0. I actually bought a refurbished 8GB iPhone, saved a ton of money.

GT500Shlby

Is there much of an expectation for a camp out at launch and limited supply? I figured they'd be pretty prepared and I wouldn't have to really camp out to get my hands on one come friday....

Lance Wallen

iphone? everyone, even my grandma, will have one in a month... but the guy who got the first skyline GTR... now that is something else... link below
[www.autoblog.com]

nEmmY

@frigg:
May I remind you that I was the first commentor to correctly identify that Jonny is a twat.

ANoel

I'd call this ironic being that he must not have any life at all and probably doesn't haven't anyone to call.

rossismyname

@frigg: True! Lol! Griffin would have been telling everyone to f*ck off too! I miss the Kathy-Woz Days...sigh :(

fusedinertia

@jayhay312: Something tells me that John Mayer will be the first person in the continental U.S. to have one... I'm just saying that I haven't read the post four up from this one yet.

/fixed

92BuickLeSabre

since he's at a retail store, aren't there other retail locations in auckland? what a knob-jocky!

contempt

@fusedinertia: "If that were the case, he would pay someone to stand in line for him while watching the chaos from his top floor penthouse"

Didn't Woz wait on line for the original iPhone with everyone else, despite the fact that he could have easily paid Kathy Griffin to wait in line for him?

frigg

Something tells me that John Mayer will be the first person in the continental U.S. to have one... I'm just saying

jayhay312

lottttttttt of sarcastic bitterness going on here... then again what else is new? (<---- see?)

pevans34

@michaelwiggins: Ah yes, time zones foil my point yet again.

Still...2-3 days?

bobx3

Those of you hatin on this maverick simply don't appreciate the value of being first. You were the same people laughing at:

James Cook
, the 1st person to cross Antarctic Circle,

George Washington
, the 1st US President,

Roald Amundsen, the 1st person to reach the South Pole,

Annie Taylor
, the 1st woman to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel,

Neil Armstrong
, the 1st man to walk on the moon,

Junko Tabei
, the 1st woman to reach the summit of Mt. Everest,

and Buzzed, the 1st person to comment in this thread.

So to all you haters and you know who you are:

Either you don't appreciate the magnitude of Jonny Gladwell's accomplishment, or you are no better than the 2nd person to cross the Antarctic Circle, become US President, reach the South Pole, go over Niagara Falls in a barrel, walk on the moon, reach the summit of Mt Everest with lady parts, or comment in this thread, with your faces scrunched up in envy at those whose pioneering accomplishments predated your own.

To Jonny Gladwell:

You, my friend, enter a proud and distinguished pantheon. Do not be discouraged by those who seek to diminish your achievement!

frigg

@nobody makes carmen bleed her own blood:
Are you challenging me to a duel? Them's fightin' words.

secretmanofagent

@nobody makes carmen bleed her own blood: Probably does have a job. Maybe he's just a spoiled brat who doesnt have nothing better to do. I doubt that tho because those would be the people who would pay someone to get online for them.
This guy is special tho i wouldn't do that. I'd already have mine by then. And im sure someone is going to drop their iphone as soon as they open it like last year when that teenager dropped his right after he opened the box.
@dorylomorphs: And seriously wth but mac fanboys care about whose the first. I could care less whose the first. iPhone isnt a big deal just a good phone thats open source and closed at the same time.

SneakerFiend

@Chester_Copperpot: Then perhaps YOU are a better example than THAT GUY.

I actually have no problem with line-waiters, but I'd hardly say he's "living the dream" figuring out a way to have both the "Porsche AND a Mercedes" merely by standing in line for days at a Vodafone in Auckland.

92BuickLeSabre

@Chester_Copperpot:
... and no matter what the assignment you always ended up wanting to shoot the 23 year old Art Director?

ANoel

@bobx3: Friday - Wednesday = 2 days.

Less, even, since the iphone comes out at the stroke of midnight thursday night/friday morning, and he probably got their after the stroke of today.

michaelwiggins

In fact, I should stalk you haters, and wait till one of you guys gets excited about something important to you, then I'll totally bash you for not being at work or with friends..

...Go ahead, buy the delicious ice cream cone, I DARE you. -.-

michaelwiggins

...that's pretty sad.

He has nothing better to do for four days than to sit there?

bobx3

@92BuickLeSabre: Ever since I was a young child I dreamed of not having to sit in traffic AND not having to deal with corporate BS.

I'm a photographer....AND.....I love it.

Chester_Copperpot

What is everybody taunting this guy? Is there no remote possibility that this guy DOES have friends and family, and is simply taking 2 days off from them to get a really cool phone?

I mean, you guys ostracize him like he's a loser, but don't you think it's pretty cool to be the first in the WORLD to get something, regardless of what it may be?

And to the guy who said he's the first to get scammed, who cares if you saved 200 bucks by waiting for the 1.0? Maybe this guy is rolling in disposable income.

michaelwiggins

@Chester_Copperpot: If that were the case, he would pay someone to stand in line for him while watching the chaos from his top floor penthouse, or maybe that would just be me :)

fusedinertia

@Chester_Copperpot: "it's about living your dreams. It's not about OR, it's about AND."
...
...wow...so...let me play out how this works...okay:

"Ever since I was a young child I've dreamed of having a job AND standing in line to get an iPhone 3G."

(Well, when you put it that way, it is pretty inspirational, I'll give him that.)

92BuickLeSabre

I know that I may be the lone person on the planet not planning to buy a 3G iPhone, but PUH-LEASE get a life.

zanella

... and in 6 months there will be something better and cheaper. These people are sad. God forbid you do something useful with that time you wasted in line...

Geist420

@92BuickLeSabre: I never said HE was living "the dream." My point was merely that everyone is hating on this guy for him doing his own thing. Well he figured out how to have enough money to buy a gadget AND not have to go into work for a few days. Good for him.

Chester_Copperpot

@92BuickLeSabre:
"As we stood on the balcony ..."

That isn't the "royal we" is it?

ANoel

@ANoel: Nope, no art director. I shoot for myself. And I make a living at it.

Chester_Copperpot

@nEmmY:
"... but the guy who got the first skyline GTR... "

At least Frigg's List are those (Jonny excepted) who did something first, something heroic, not bought a fucking anything first. Cheessus!

OK kids, put on your thinking caps... who was the first person to get syphilis?

/clap,clap,clap

ANoel

@bobx3:

2-ish.

In any case, he's smiling in the picture, so he's clearly a happy guy. Let's not all assume that his life is a miserable, friendless, familyless (by the way if you tease him for that you're an asshole), wreck.

michaelwiggins

@analyticalmind84:

"camping out in front of a hotel, hilarious"

I thought the same thing too. You can just stay at the hotel and ask for the the iPhone to be delivered to your room.

Such a n00b

silvio_tercero

@frigg:

George Washington's Diary.
Thursday, April 30, 1789

Today was quite the spectacle. The streets of New York were teaming with New Americans as we made our way to Federal Hall.

As we stood on the balcony and addressed the New Senators and Representatives, we looked out with a proud heart and anxious mind and spoke those words that we felt most fitting to begin our legacy:

"FIRST!"

92BuickLeSabre

what's with all these bitter comments... that's so gay. while you are sitting, bitter alone writing something unpleasant, at least he's there to go down in history of some sorts. wait, i'm gay and sitting here writing this comment! mom, at least i'm not bitter (well, it is tuesday isn't it?)! anyway, to a serious matter... is he a tall drink of water or what? hot!

ProtoDAda

hey! at least he's not waiting in line for a week like those losers in NYC... to each his own.

bmw5

@Chester_Copperpot: Well okay, but you did get all "dentist poster" and lecture everyone that they were jealous haters with crappy jobs and that it's all about living your dreams, but I guess I just misinterpreted that as somehow being relevant to this post.

(Also, if the own thing your doing is kind of silly, sometimes "doing your own thing" gets you made fun of a little bit. I'm pretty sure that, being an upstanding Kiwi himself, Jonny boy would be okay with that. C'est La Vie.)

@ANoel: Oui.

92BuickLeSabre

@_badtziscool: Actually, anyone can put himself in Wikipedia.

hammertime94

maybe someones paying him to wait...

mmplisskin

He should have got Bret to make him a camera phone using super glue.

sam_i_am

@michaelwiggins: Smiling is so overrated in such a situation

*scoffs as I continue to type away*

bobx3

He should get an Apple logo on that tent. Being first in line to get an iPhone is double edged sword: you get the bragging rights to say you were the first customer in the queue for an iPhone, yet also get put down as someone who has nothing better to do with their life.

twilight-arc

how come I can't post anything? None of what I've posted before had shown up. :(

MDIFILM

it's not like the phone will ever be sold out, after a year when iphone 3.0 is coming out, no one would remember this person *shrug* silly fanboy

MDIFILM

@92BuickLeSabre: Yes doing your own thing may get you made fun of, but why? Hating on people is the reason the world is where it's at. Negative energy perpetuates the low frequencies the world has been operating at.

I prefer to go by the phrase "Don't hate, appreciate."

And just to get it straight, I do think it is kind of silly to camp out for days for a phone. I myself will show up at 6am on Friday.

Chester_Copperpot

@Chester_Copperpot: Or a lack of humor. It could go either way really.

92BuickLeSabre

July 18th, 2008

News - Apple Drops price of iPhone 3G to $129. Early adopters get screwed again. Oh, Apple will give out $50 iTunes Store gift certificates.

thebear91

@frigg: I found some problems with your comment:

1. "James Cook
, the 1st person to cross Antarctic Circle," The Antarctic circle is so small now, i can jump over it.

2. "George Washington
, the 1st US President" George Washington was the 5th president.

3. "Roald Amundsen, the 1st person to reach the South Pole" The South Poll is a myth

4. "Annie Taylor
, the 1st woman to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel" So what, anyone can fall down a waterfall.

5. "Neil Armstrong
, the 1st man to walk on the moon" There is no such thing as the moon.

6. "Junko Tabei
, the 1st woman to reach the summit of Mt. Everest" It would be more impressive if she fell up Mt. Everest in a barrel.

See, your argument is full of holes!

HawkSkater0

HA HA! This guy has no retort when I drive by and scream FANBOY!!!!

[gizmodo.com]

EndwaterAngry

@HawkSkater0: As much as I would love to debate you point by point, I am currently waiting in line for a 3G iphone, and have been in waiting in line for over two months... and am concerned that if I start discussing these issues I may become distracted and loose my place in line... may I get back to you... Oh, and in case you're wondering, I'm not waiting in the obvious expected places like everyone else, like at an AT&T or Apple Store Oh No... I'm waiting in a much better place that no one knows about so there is almost no chance I will loose my place in line plus I haven't eaten or drunken anything in over a month so I won't get distracted and did I mention I am naked?

frigg

Woouldn't it be funny, in that tragic sort of way, if the line formed in the other direction?

grimjack

[www.nzherald.co.nz]

"The 22-year-old AUT physiotherapy student was one of four people set up outside the store last night.

Mr Gladwell's friends bet him that he couldn't last in first position until midnight tomorrow, when the new-model iPhone goes on sale in New Zealand before any other country.

As part of the dare, his mates have to bring him meals and stand in for him when he needs to use the toilet.

If he completes the challenge, his mates will buy him the phone.

"It's uni holidays so I don't have to be anywhere else, " Mr Gladwell said."

bofa

I just walked by the shop on the way to work. It is now a queue of two. Should I go down and queue up and be the 3rd in the world to get an 3G iPhone?

lsim001

Sigh, why is it that Vodafone gets the iPhone but Verizon doesnt? Aren't they all part of the same company :P

Lestat

I wonder if he and his friends saw the price of the plans? $80 per month for 250mb or $250 for 1gb... makes you wonder how a student will be paying for it.

Blakamin

@paul: Oh, now I see what you mean, you were meaning the first person in the world to buy one could be in Welly or Chch aswell, my bad. The first person will probably be in Welly, that's where the smartest people in New Zealand live.

paul

@aelver: It's either in Auckland or he's in the wrong place in Welly or Chch, the midnight store in Auckland is at 171 Queen St, Welly it's 358 Lambton Quay and Chch it's 681 Colombo St. So judging by the 171 behind him i'd guess it's in Auckland

paul

@Blakamin: Rich parents maybe

paul