Despite picking my plan early last week, long queues have on several occasions put me off getting an iPhone since they went on sale last Friday in Sydney.
Originally, I was planning to head up to the Optus store on Oxford St early in the morning. I missed my alarm and by the time I was dressed and near the store, the queue wasn’t too bad with only twenty or thirty people. Unfortunately, they had sold out of the black 16 GB model I wanted, so I headed off towards the city to see if there were any easy purchases there.
The queue at Optus in Pitt St was much longer, and they had sold out of 16 GB phones too. I didn’t walk past the Apple store that morning, but some of my friends had turned up at 7 am and didn’t get their phones until lunchtime.
By Sunday, I was sure that I’d be able to walk into the Apple store and pick up a phone without joining a queue. No such luck. I walked past at 2 pm on Sunday, and the queue was still across the length of the ground floor of the Apple store and out the door around to King St.
I’m starting to wonder when this craziness will go away. Not that I’m worried too much about getting the phone – I still have a phone that works well – but it does seem a bit weird that I might have to line up to get a phone an entire week after it has been released and on sale in hundreds of places across the country.
Does anyone have a tip on where I might be able to get a 16 GB black iPhone and not have to queue? I want to sign up with an Optus 12-month contract.
