Bob and I just arrived at the Chandler Mall to join the Apple iPhone line. I was expecting maybe a dozen people. We had to pass almost 100 to get to the end of the line. I don't know if that's good or not. We'll see.
An Apple worker just dropped off some water, which was nice. She didn't have any idea of the number of units that would be available though.
Here's a photo I took looking down the line from the Apple store. You can't make out where our spot is because we're around the corner. As of right now (1:48PM) there are probably another 20 people or so behind us.

The Arizona Republic has an article here about the lines that have been forming around the two Apple stores here in Phoenix.
Update: 4:45PM There are about 100 people behind us now in line. Best part for everyone though is that there's air conditioning for all. :-) I'm so glad I didn't go over to the Biltmore Apple store. I would have had to wait outside in the heat. I can't imagine what that would have been like.
I've been wanting to video broadcast from the line, however, mall security won't let us hook up to any power. So broadcasting EVDO from battery on my Toshiba Tablet isn't going to last but a few minutes. We're too far away from a wireless signal where we're at. Once the line gets moving I'm hoping that I can switch over to the UMPC and broadcast from it. We'll see.
The line has been quite quiet. Many people are leaving a place holder behind and walking the mail, shopping, eating, and so on. A few are holding their spot as tightly as a precious plot of land--but most are more leisurely about it.
I've asked a few people why they're in line for an iPhone. Most people say because the talk of the iPhone has been so strong for the last six months that they can't resist. They want to own the latest and greatest. Interestingly, many of the people are going to be switchers, moving from their current wireless carrier to AT&T. A large number of them have been planning carefully not to get tied down with a contract so that they can get the new Apple iPhone.
By the way, there are quite a few Macs in line, however, I'm not the only one with a Windows-based machine. Bob and I, however, are the only ones I've seen that are running Vista. Most are running XP on their laptops.


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