World+Dog lines up for iPhones

Global sales of camping tents must be skyrocketing, because reports are coming in from many corners of the globe of iPhone fanatics queuing up days in advance of the phone’s launch, just to ensure they’re first in line. In New Zealand, for example, 22-year-old student Jonny Gladwell pitched his tent outside an Apple store …

[Guy]

Most Wanted Smartphones

Yeah Yeah, Apple is great, Apple is shite, I'll let others have that argument.

What I'm interested in is the list of 'most wanted smartphones' that is displayed on the right hand side of reg hardware articles.

I can't be guarantee this, but I'm fairly certain that list hasn't changed in like 6 months or more. As a reader on El Reg, it's quite noticeable that the amount of phone reviews is quite high, so you would think that the most wanted (Not most bought, or best, just wanted) would have changed a bit by now?

Plus, who the hell is Mwg anyway? I mean I've seen their phone at the top of the list for quite a while, but the manufacturer? Never heard of em, and possibly for that reason I know I don't want one, and trust me I want a lot of things, shiney new things, with flashing lights, and weird features I'll never use, I want them all..

Just curious

[Anonymous Coward]

Apple addict?

that's a feeble collection of Apple gear!

i've got about twice that much apple hardware!

(admittedly, yes, i am going to be queuing outside my local O2 on friday morning)

[Webster Phreaky]

These are ALL just Apple Sheeple ... fortunately.

The sick, pathetic, the no life other than blow their wad ($$) on over-priced Apple Gadgets and most of all - stupid Sheeple (sheep-people) - are the only ones that follow the word of Stevie Gods everytime a new crApple product comes out to replace the previous one released just months previous.

Fortunately for the sane world, crAppleTards are only a miniscule minority. (of course these same fools will vote for another big iPhony - Barak Hussein Obama)

[Anonymous Coward]

If it helps...

...I'm camped out in front of my computer. A bit more comfortable than Regent Street today.

[Steve Evans]

It's well known...

...that New Zealand has more sheep than people... It's just unusual to find one that owns/requires a tent and can verbally reply to interview questions.

[Anonymous Coward]

Webster Phreaky

Man, you really need to get a girlfriend.

[Dan Wright]

CPW

Why bother camping out?!

I'm going to walk into my local CPW on the way to work and pick up the one i've reserved today...

[Anonymous Coward]

@Webster "The Bore" Phreaky

While this violates my normal 'do not feed the troll' policy, I just thought I'd mention that you appear to be a bit of an arsehole.

And no, I don't own a single piece of fruit-themed electrical equipment.

[Jon Hume]

Confirmation ..

Just had my confirmation email so I won't be queuing in the street, mine will be hand delivered by a man in a red and yellow uniform whilst I sit and read about how long it takes for it to be jailbroken.. I reckon 36 hours, anyone else want to start a sweepstake?

[Les Matthew]

@Lee

"Man, you really need to get a girlfriend."

Yes, they look good and cost a fortune too. ;)

[Dominic Tristram]

Camping tents?

I don't think I've ever heard the phrase 'camping tents' before - is that 'London-speak'? Are they a bit like 'eating spoons' and 'wearing socks'?

Also, no more of these 'Apple fans are sheep' comments, people! Grow-up, for Gods sake - if you don't use or want an iPhone then fine, but don't pretend that your Windows Mobile or Symbian phone is oh-so-unique.

[Richie M]

ppppfffffffttttt

HTC Touch Diamond here I come :-D

[Chad H.]

Come on Webster

I know you're at the oxford Street iStore. I'm suprised the Reg reporter didn't get a picture of you.

[Webster Phreaky]

Re: Webster Phreaky

> Man, you really need to get a girlfriend.

Eurgh... not me... I'm gay and in love with Bill Gates.

[Henry]

@Webster "The Bore" Phreaky

I too own no apple hardware. I second AC's comment.

[paul]

bring back the ginger iphone smasher

If my memory serves me correctly , didn't el reg do a story of some anti-gloablisation protestors who smashed an iphone and ipod on stage at some festival?

It may not be anti-globalisation, but something else. Apologies if i have it incorrect.

Hopefully he will be back to do the same for the new holy grail of phones.

Anyway, we could do with that fella as a new icon.

[Thomas]

Queueing for a phone?

It does seem peculiar. The updated firmware will be available simultaneously for the old 2.5G iPhone, so surely if you're desperate enough for the iPhone 3G to schedule hours or days to staying in one place then the smartest thing would be to get an old iPhone (to be honest, if you're queueing then you probably already have one), add the new firmware, then sit next to a wifi router? Maybe grab a 3G later, when they're plentiful.

[Mark Barton]

iPhone at Apple retail in UK

I thought they weren't able to sell the iPhone in the Apple retail stores here in blighty as the staff were unable to do the 02 contract stuff?

Paris: Limited Access

[Rolf Harris]

TomTom

To be honest, I've been pretty immune to the iPhone madness, but if Rumour #1 is true, and TomTom will be available for the 3G iPhone, and not Rumour #2 that it won't be, then I can see myself actually getting one of these. Otherwise, it's an HTC Diamond for me I guess, to replace the trusty (but now rather old) TyTN. Either which way, I shan't (and I hope I will be only one of 60 million others) be queuing up for a phone of all things....

Rolf.

[Seanie Ryan]

webster sqeaky

"everytime a new crApple product comes out to replace the previous one released just months previous."

yeah, the iphone only came out 12 months ago... wait.. thats actually called a Year on some planets!!

and apple are the only one who bring out new products every few months... no-one else does.. they have the decency to leave it at least a year or 2 (or 6 of you buy microsoft ! lol)

Its called 'progress' you muppet, move out of the stone age. Things move at a different pace now. If you cant keep up, then leave the stage.

[WTF]

@ Webster Phreaky

Gotta agree with Lee on this one. You got some obviously serious issues, and man was that was quite an erratic rant. Ever thought of getting some professional help? If not, could you at least be a good chap and spare us of your haphazard invective in the future? Most of us are here for serious technical news and occasionally a good laugh. Not for your therapy sessions.

[Ivan Headache]

Q. What is the first thing you learn at Journalism school?

A. Globes do not have corners.

That is assuming one went to Journalism school and didn't just do GCSE media studies.

Mine's the one with Pedant on the back.

[Anonymous Coward]

Good luck if you think you've reserved

There are *no* reservations for the iphone 3g. Some store managers decided to do so and have now had to backpedal based on the number they're actually getting (as in the reservation list is many times the size of the stock allocation) and the fact that O2 is clamping down to stop the practice.

As a local store is verified as having only 6 16gb phones for the launch (and I can easily see that being an average) if you're not there at 7/8am when the doors open forget it for a few weeks. It's going to be as scarce as the Nintendo Wii.

[Doug Glass]

Huh?

I think I'll just fuel-up the cat and take my grandson fishing and let somebody else drool over this new-fangled contraption.

[Webster Phreaky]

@ Lee and the "Anonymous Coward" ... yes you are.

The BEST you can do is a personal attack? No rebuttal with facts, not retort with substance (other than the substance you smoke) That, everyone normal reading this, is your TYPICAL Apple Kool Aid Drinker Retard.

Here's the facts: After 20 years of VERY HEAVY advertising Macs are STILL less than 5% of the world and US market. Fact, the iPhony is STILL only in a distant THIRD PLACE in Smart Phone Sales, a tiny blip on the radar in total mobile phone sales (per Gartner Research and other non Apple pimp market analysts). Fact, Apple is an iNOvator, they copy other innovators products and then claim the breakthrough as theirs - iPud a rip off of the Rio, OS X a rip off of BSD UNIX and Windows, and Apple is LAST to 3G on the iPhony which was a rip off of LG's GUI interfaced Smart Phone shown CeBIT Germany a year before.

Face it Apple Sheeple, YOU are the losers. You CAN'T even carry on a debate.

[Anonymous Coward]

O2 rep says 24 phones per store on Friday!

I called O2 today to query the status of my order.

I was told that yes, an iPhone 3G has been earmarked for me, along with a number--not that a new number matters to me, as I will request my old one be ported across. But, by the time my order was accepted by the O2 system, the company had already run out of stock to be pre-allocated.

The rep I spoke to placed the blame quite unequivocally on Apple, telling me that insufficient supplies of the iPhone 3G had been shipped to the UK in advance of Friday's launch, because Apple is launching in 22 countries without having produced enough units to go round.

I was also told that Apple and O2 are in discussions taking place on an hourly basis (for 'discussions' read 'heated arguments', perhaps?) to address the stock shortfall as quickly as possible, with iPhones being redirected from other countries to Britain. I suspect that's a reference to Apple not supplying Canada with as many iPhone 3Gs as originally promised, because Steve Jobs is personally angry, according to a number of reports, at the outrageous tariffs being offered by the Canadian telecoms partner. So it looks like a lot of their iPhones are coming here instead!

I asked if it was possible for me to attend my local O2 store early on Friday morning to pick up an iPhone 3G there, but was told if I did that then I'd have two iPhones. And, while I could cancel my online order ahead of Friday, I was asked to bear in mind that the most iPhone 3Gs available to O2 stores around the country on Friday would probably be two dozen units each.

So... if anyone does queue on Friday, and is number 26 in the line or even further back, they'd better pray everyone ahead of them is a bad credit risk and won't emerge from the store, um, victorious. Otherwise, forget it unless you're insane and prepared to camp out on the street starting now.

Needless to say, I kept my online order. The rep I spoke to couldn't say when new stock would arrive, but did say she thought that extra supplies were already arriving and set to arrive daily from now on. So hopefully I won't have to wait a considerable number of days or even weeks--or, gods forbid, months. But really, the simultaneous worldwide launch by Apple is looking increasingly like it was very poorly prepared for. And I'm likely to be without a mobile phone altogether for a while, as my contract with T-Mobile ends next week. If I didn't let it end, I'd have to give them another month's notice of termination and I don't want to end up with two phones on the go, costing me money, at the same time.

[Eddie Edwards]

I'll bite

"the iPhony is STILL only in a distant THIRD PLACE in Smart Phone Sales"

After one year in the market. What terrible performance. I'm calling my dealer and selling my Apple shares. Right now.

"OS X a rip off of BSD UNIX"

No it really is. The BSD license specifically says "don't rip us off man - we wrote this code and there's no frickin' way you hippies can use it". The Regents of the University of California must be turning in their graves.

[Anonymous Coward]

No backwards Apple wristwatches?!

> "One Apple addict said he wants a white 3G iPhone to expand his already booming Apple hardware collection, which includes an iMac, Mac Mini, MacBook Pro, iPod Touch and, of course, an Apple T-shirt."

Guess they don't make those Apple wristwatches anymore? The ones that ran backwards, hands moving the wrong way around. Pity.

[Antidisestablishmentarianist]

Dear Webby

I almost didn't believe it was you until you STARTED using capitalised WORDS again. I now feel better.

Hmm, with regards to the explanation the 'sheeple' = 'sheep people'. Did you think you were so clever coming up with that it needed spelling out? I'm afraid we all above that type of show and tell here. We'll give you a pat on the head for the effort though.

[Anonymous Coward]

Yo, Webster

Steve Jobs is a multi-billionaire.

You aren't.

Why do you think that is?

(p.s. and what's 'Kool Aid'? Some toxic Yankee confection?)

[WTF]

@ Webster Phreaky - Just can't resist...

"The BEST you can do is a personal attack?" - No. But that'll come later.

"No rebuttal with facts, not retort with substance..." - Here ya go...

"After 20 years of VERY HEAVY advertising Macs are STILL less than 5% of the world and US market"

So? I never understood this whole market share argument. As if having the largest market share has anything, anything at all, to do with being the "best". However you happen to define that. And Apple defines that by being Apple. BMW, Porsche, Bang & Olufsen, Apple, Ferrari etc... all have less than massive market share in their respective niches. Some would say that's part of what makes their brands what they are. In any event, Apple is doing what Apple does, and they definitely are NOT focused on dominating the desktop market. That would unequivocally be looking backwards for them, and probably the sentiment of most people who truly understand the convergence of computing and media.

"Fact, the iPhony is STILL only in a distant THIRD PLACE in Smart Phone Sales , a tiny blip on the radar in total mobile phone sales"

Fact. It's been out less than ONE year. Fact, the smart phone market has been trying to become more than a blip in total market sales for nearly a decade. The flush of recent `Me Too's' is an obvious indication they have made an impact on what has been a staid market (in sales growth). We'll see where it goes from here, but nothing flatters like imitation.

"Fact, Apple is an iNOvator, they copy other innovators products and then claim the breakthrough as theirs"

No they don't. For a really good coverage of this 'fact', I suggest the Economist cover article "Apple and the Art of Innovation." Very clearly spells out that Apple does not suffer from `Not invented here' syndrome. They take ideas from wherever they find them, clean up the user interface and dial in the user experience. That's always been their forte.

"Face it Apple Sheeple, YOU are the losers. You CAN'T even carry on a debate."

Now for the personal attack. Do you obsess much? Seriously, this much hatred and fume for a piece of cheap electronics? My god man, I simply can not imagine how you manage to muttle through life with such fixation, mania, and neurosis. Please see my previous posting, and especially Lee's --- Get a girlfriend, get a boyfriend, get some help.

[Aristotles slow and dimwitted horse]

Seriously though...

Do you really have that little external stimulation in your life that you'd go through this shite to buy this inane product from a company headed by a serial twat like Steve Jobs?

You need to see through the fog because Apple are no better than MS. You just believe their shit because you've bought into some Harvard marketing BS that values aesthetic over content.

Morons the lot of you.

[Chad H.]

Gee Freaky

Gee Freaky, there seem to be a lot of Noobs on here tonight who havent experienced your "humour" before.

Webster Freaky did actually admit in a previous comment he does own, and continue to buy apple Hardware, he just posts the way he does cos he thinks its funny to make fun of fanboys.

Its not that he's off his meds, its that he thinks he's funny. Its up to you to decide whether he's right or not.

I'm suprised El Reg hasnt actually got Freaky (and amanfrommars for that matter) their own column yet. Regular articles from them would be a great way to spend all that advertising revenue from those annoying ads that cover up the articles. No I dont want to do a survey darnit!

[Seanie Ryan]

facts????

>"The BEST you can do is a personal attack?"

this from the man who resorts to calling people sheeple and Losers! lol

ok... now for the debate:

Apple are are 4th over all, slightly behind Acer. Quite good for for a company with a proprietary OS. The have full control over their own hardware and OS, not dependant on M$. This is especially important now with the lacklustre performance of Vista. Other Hardware manufacturers are seeing low sales because of the failure of a major supplier. Terrible position to be. Simple economics for any business.

Despite only being in the mobile market (OS and Hardware) for only one year, having only one model and it only being 2G, Apple have got 3rd position and climbing fast. Not bad.

If the ipod is a ripoff of the Rio, how come the Rio didnt get 80-90% market share? Possible answer.. its not as good?

OSX a rip of off windows/unix??? please. come on. If you are going to debate, please do it properly. Dont show your foolishness. I will give you the benefit of the doubt on this on that you meant a different point.

Doing a product in a different way is not a ripoff. Doing the SAME is a ripoff.By your reasoning, at this stage you could class ALL products as a rip off. thats just stupid. Ferrari ripped of Ford??

Lastly, Apple have , what, 20billion in cash reserves?? What a failure!! If you have done better, then you are qualified to shoot them down.

ah, but sure, you are gas anyway. always good for a laugh.

cheers

[vincent himpe]

Smartphone...

dumbpeople ?

[Nathanael Bastone]

Is it just me...

Or does the 'the future first Japanese owner of the iPhone 3G' seem to be wearing very strange trousers?

iPhone? who wants that? Back in my day we had a cup attached to a piece of string attached to another cup. And we made do. And you know what? we got much better reception back in them days...

[Andy Worth]

Shoot me for saying this but.......

I'm actually considering an iphone sometime after release, but I'm not that desperate to camp outside an O2 shop to get one. Pleh....I'll get one in a few months when the excitement has worn off and they've released several firmware fixes for them.

And no, I'm not an Apple fan. If I purchased an iphone it would take the grand total of Apple appliances that I own to 1. I'm only considering it because you can supposedly get them free on a £45 a month contract and that's not much more than I pay anyway.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: anti-glob

"didn't el reg do a story of some anti-gloablisation protestors who smashed an iphone and ipod on stage at some festival?"

That was the Gates and Ballmer show, wasn't it?

Anyway, for all you anti-Apple folks out there (especially the hilarious Mr Freaky) - look, the second-gen iPhone is actually a half-decent product. It's pretty much the first smartphone not crippled by a rubbish OS, with lots of features on there that actually make it useful. Sure, I don't think it's going to take over the Blackberry market (not having a proper keyboard for a start will always hinder it), but it's hit that sweet spot of being innovative and useful at the same time. Much like the second-gen iPods did. Once the fuss calms down I might even get one.

And yes, Apple are money-grabbing evil Capitalist scum, as are Microsoft, IBM, Sun etc; that's capitalism for you. Get used to it. It's better than the alternatives.

[Svantevid]

Re: Webster Phreaky

Gentlemen, Webster is a national treasure. While BOFH attracted me to ElReg, readers' comments (Orlowski, *please* allow comments on your articles) are what makes me a regular reader. Especially Webster's fascinating rants and typically British sarcastic humour.

If I was less sane/more on hallucinogens, I'd say the same for amanfrommars. As it is, I'm using him for sanity calibration... if his posts start making sense, I'm in obvious need of vacation/large quantities of alcohol.

[Ivan Headache]

@Svantevid

"Especially Webster's fascinating rants and typically British sarcastic humour"

Rants they are, but typically British sarcastic humour? Phreaky doesn't know the meaning of sarcasm, he just produces bile.

Anyway, I can't believe he's British. His grammar's rubbish and he makes too many references to something called kool Aid. Kool Aid is something unknown in the UK. If he was British he would refer to Tizer.

Amanfrommars is definitely British though. His grammar is nigh on perfect and he uses words in a subtle and very intelligent manner, often producing long sentences that Bernard Levin would have been proud of.

[Svantevid]

@ Ivan Headache

Damn, that's what happens when you learn English by watching "Star Wars"... Yoda I'll listen to no more.

Let me reformulate my statement, to be clear on what I wanted to say:

"Especially typically British sarcastic humour (ElReg staff, various readers) and Webster's fascinating rants."

There. :-)

[NoCo37]

@ Those new to Webster

I have to agree with Svantevid, Webster is a treasure.

I don't think he's British, he is most likely located at the Lane County Psychiatric Hospital (151 West 5th Avenue, Eugene, Oregon 97401)... right between Redmond and Cupertino.

A week gone by without a comment from Webster or amanfromMars, is a bad week!!!