iTimes: iPhone launch at Chicago's Apple store

Ever since January, when Steve Jobs announced the impending release of the iPhone at San Francisco's MacWorld Expo, super fans of Apple products have been downloading countdown Dashboard widgets in anticipation of its release. If you're one of those people, odds are you're not reading this post, as you're probably waiting at the Michigan Avenue Apple Store. By the looks of things, if you're reading this post, you're probably SOL for at least a few months. But come 6pm—the official release time of the iPhone, and the beginning of sales at the store and various AT&T outposts throughout the city—we'll have a better idea what our iFutures hold.

As you can see from the photo above, the action isn't in the store, but around the corner in the massive line. I headed to the end and worked my way forward, chatting with dedicated Apple-heads along the way. For the sake of their non-iLives, I decided to keep their identities anonymous—but not before snapping a few photos.

The view from the back is less-than-scenic—at the time of my visit, the line snakes around the corner of the Apple Store, leaps over an alley, and continues down until St. Clair. That's where I met my first devotee, shown here squatting and reading in what I noticed had become the popular "waiting for an iPhone but there's nowhere to sit comfortably" stance. He mentioned that he had only arrived 15 minutes ago, but was hopeful that he would be celebrating the end of his day with an iPhone in hand. I brought up the somewhat mixed reviews the phone has received thus far, and he assured me that the major complaint—slow internet speed—was going to be rectified when AT&T beefed up their EDGE network speed. Here's hoping.

These two guys arrived at around 5:30am and seemed in good spirits. I asked where they go for, um, bathroom duties, and they said that the Starbucks across the street has been accommodating everyone with both free coffee and the facilities to deal with post-coffee runs. Luckily their buddies, as otherwise no one would be able to hold their spot in line. One asked me why I wasn't in line, and I told them that my iPhone lust had somewhat been stayed by my recent Blackberry Pearl purchase (bling bling, fools). "C'mon man," the urban cowboy retorted, "you could just buy two and make your money back selling one on eBay." Hmm...

Further up the line and across the street, this pair at left arrived a mere hour beforehand (4:30am) and seemed in good spirits. What was up with their sign? That we wouldn't understand why they want the iPhone today. So why not wait till tomorrow? "You never know what the distribution is going to be like," said Mr. Chicago Sweatshirt (as opposed to Sgt. Frostytips). "They're probably going to sell out tonight, and there's no way to know how long it'll take for them to get more in stock. If you don't get one now, then you may have to wait a bunch of weeks."

Ho boy, these guys were exhausted. They arrived at 7pm the night before, and have been doing basically "this" they said, looking blurry-eyed at their unopened energy drinks and saggy chairs. But apparently the iPhone excitement kept them from sleeping at night. That and the constant interruptions. "Every time we were about to doze off, there'd be like a horse or something walking by," the kid on the left said. "Also, there have been a lot of drunk people running by."

And finally, I reached number one: Nicholas (he's already been interviewed by countless other media outlets, so his first name, at least, is out there for the taking), who staked out a line spot at 2:30pm the previous afternoon. Speaking of other media...he's sick of being interviewed. "All the media are trying to make me out as a...um..." he began. A crazy person, I ask? "Yes. And the thing is...they all wanna know why I'm waiting at all, when I could get one later. But I don't think you'll be able to as easily." He went on to theorize that Apple is going to limit iPhone production, because then the demand will skyrocket over supply and shareholders will be happy. And I have to admit...at this point, he was starting to make a lot of sense. I gave my business card to Nicholas should he have any additional questions, scoped out the incredibly sad looking number two person in line (who arrived at 4pm the day before, which meant Nicky boy was alone for an hour and a half) and told him that if he so happened to purchase two iPhones (the max an individual can buy, according to a press release sent out by Apple earlier this week), that I may know someone (me) happy to take it off his hands. Nick, my man, I was serious...

Jonesing for an iPhone, but unable to wait in line cuz you have a job and the like? Chicago Public Radio is giving away a 4GB model every hour until 7pm. Make a pledge, and you'll be in the drawing all day long. Never has donating to CPR felt so...phony.

Check out more of my pics from the iPhone line on our Flickr site.