After seeing Steve Jobs speak online of the new iPad 2 and the launch
date of March 11th it was a concern of mine of how I was going to
"upgrade" and still be around for the conference. But thanks to Apple
and a leak spilled by The Austin-American Statesman fate intervened.
Apple was installing their first pop-up store at this year's SXSW in
downtown Austin. Score.
check out the supposed spot and make sure it was for real. With
blacked out windows and workers running in and out from side entrances
with flooring I knew it was true. 6th and Congress, Scarborough
Building, was the store. Decided to hit up a few of the evening
pre-party events for SXSW and decide if I was going to be up in time
to hit up the store in the AM. 5AM on March 11th. Stared at the alarm for a good minute as it chimed
and figured why not. On the bus by 5:30, armed with batteries, phone,
portable wifi, chair, and a cooler full of Big Red. Upon arriving at
what I assumed was the entrance two Austin Police officers turned to
me and said, "You're the first one!" So began the over ten hour wait
for the 5PM launch. People were milling about giving me the once over. Apple employees
showed up in a group, blue shirts not worn but in hand, and was
quickly rushed inside. For the next two hours it was cold (38degrees)
and a bit lonely. A reporter from Venture Beat who was working out in
the gym below Apple's store came by and asked a couple questions. Only
during a quick resting of the eyes a group of SXSW registrants from
South Africa came by to check it out. Now there were four.
Introductions and conversations began that didn't end for awhile. But
now that I wasn't alone I could take a break. After hitting up a local
grocer downtown, the return had a little drama. The Fed-Ex truck of
iPad 2's arrived and was being unloaded. A lot of them. Apple had a
crew filming or taking pictures of it. The group from South Africa
decided to also take pictures much to the dislike of Apple's group.
This was the only acknowledgement anyone from Apple had given us up to
this point. They had even asked one of the officers to ask them not to
take pictures. (The officer said it was a public street and told Apple
they had to just deal with it) But what it did for us is got us
excited. Our future iPads were being delivered and to the group from
South Africa, myself, and the others just joining us it was like
peeking into Santa's workshop. High fives were exchanged several
times. The sun got higher, the day got warmer and the line began to take
shape. New York. San Francisco, Denmark, and many other cities and
countries stood in line. An Apple employee from their Austin offices
was in line with his wife and brought lunch for everyone around! He
had never done a launch and decided he wanted to join in on the fun.
It was full of SXSW Interactive registrants and we all made the best
of missing the panels by making our own discussions on the conference.
Japan was also a topic as a lot of us had just found out about the
tsunami upon waking. Friendships were started. As the line grew longer and longer press began to show. CNN, Mashable,
TechCrunch, The Guardian, and more. For some reason none of them knew
the location had been leaked the day before and wondered how we all
found out. More press. More photographers. More bonding between our section of
the line which I named the "dirty dozen". Soon plain clothes
individuals began carrying water out to the line. Later, these would
be discovered to be the Apple employees who would be helping us soon. Finally in the last hour before launch unveilings began. The black
film covering the windows were removed and it was revealed to be an
exact duplicate of what most Apple stores look like. Pretty impressive
in that short time. The "blue shirts" came out with more water. We
were pumped. The line was going around the block now. A lot of people. We were
excited. Apple sent employees out to take orders for the first group
to reserve the models we wanted. Press was swarming the entrance.
There was no countdown. They let us in. I was waved in to a sea of excitement. High fives and loud cheers from
the crew from Apple. One iPad for me and one purchased for someone who
couldn't be there. This was my first actual purchase of something from
an Apple store that wasn't an accessory. It was great unboxing it and
getting it activ....(insert frantic person interrupting) At this point
someone from Apple runs to the employee helping me turn it on and
wants me outside. Since I had been waiting all day the Press had
wanted to see me come out first. She instructs the person helping me
to make sure I get out there quickly. So we finish activating it
quickly and I head out front. After a blurry moment of questions, pictures, demos, and interviews
(including a semi-awkward moment of arguing between Mashable and
TechCrunch of who talked first) I was allowed to return to the store
to make sure everything worked. My new friends from South Africa
waited and we left with the spoils of our victory in hand. The rest of the day was spent catching up with the SXSW conference and
of course having fun with my new iPad 2. The biggest questions were
not about the iPad 2 but of how long I waited and what Apple gave me
for being first. The first question is easy. 10.5 hours. Let me dive
into the second question a bit. The reason I wanted to be first in line was to be able to jump right
back to SXSW as soon after 5PM as possible and of course to get the
32GB Black WiFi iPad 2 with a green cover. What Apple did for me is
had a store close to the conference. They also gave me the best
greeting. It really was like walking into Christmas, Halloween, and
St. Patrick's Day at once. Their efforts to be secret kept them from
talking to us until the hour before open. (and brown Apple sweatshirt
guy confirming I was at the entrance in the AM) However, in the excitement and the rush, they took something away from
me. Never been a huge Apple fan and when I purchased my iPad classic
from Best Buy last April that turned it around. This time I wanted to
get it right from an Apple Store, on launch day. Being first was icing
on the cake of excitement to have the next installment of a device
I've come to depend on. Apple promising on the website to have my
device working out the door was perfect for me to jump right back into
SXSW. But in the ways of companies promoting excitement my experience
was interrupted to do PR for the opening of the pop-up store by Apple.
Sure, it's fun and definitely great story-telling, but it was not
asked, it was expected of me. At the time you could have told me to
run naked and I would have due to the energy of it all. What would have been nice is if Apple would have talked to me a few
moments before, had my purchase ready and paid(by me of course),
activated, and asked me. Do I think I deserved a free iPad or a
discount? No. Not one bit. But thinking back on how it all happened it
tarnished the memory slightly in the fact it made me feel manipulated.
I'm sure it was not intentional on the PR person from Apple (assuming
PR) as they were probably just as excited as I was. The first time I
opened an APP was when TechCrunch filmed me. Still nervous to watch
the footage. (and haven't watched it all yet..) I returned to the store the next day in one of the quiet times to
thank the blue shirts for their awesome greeting and help. I even
stumped one of the "geniuses" on a question dealing with iMovie and my
Canon 1400. Apple has great people, and their commitment to their
products is making me consider more of them. But for now, this iPad 2
is fantastic. The best memory of the day was made in the line with the
"dirty dozen" and our excitement of getting our hands on it first and
the stories we told. That IS what it's all about at SXSW and I didn't
miss a thing. We created a great moment in that line to last a
lifetime. My name is Sweet John, and I love my iPad 2.
No comments:
Post a Comment