Witness the hoopla surrounding the opening of Georgetown's newfangled Apple store on Friday afternoon. Special correspondent Kim Chi Ha reports rather appropriately via iPhone: "Lol there's like 30 ppl in line already," she texts at 3:33 p.m. "It's hot as fuck out here."
3:31 p.m.-Let's see how long my fully charged phone lasts until it dies.
3:37 p.m.-"Only an hour and 24 minutes left," one geek in line says to another. One of them is carrying both an iPhone and a Mac. And they're either staring at me, or the Nine West display.
3:53p.m.-Dude has a "Thank you, Steve" shirt. Don't see any picketers from Amanda's story.
3:54p.m.-God, these people in line have to be miserable. It's sweltering.
Inside the store
4:11p.m.-Inside the store. [It pays to be in media; you other suckers are still in line!] Senior store leader Ilene Magee says the company has no plans to open any other locations in D.C. Yet. No special deals but shit is nice yo. Unique feature is the courtyard where the screens are 82 inches.
4:17 p.m.-They gave us free water
4:19 p.m.-Free t-shirt to first 1,000 customers. Hurry!
4:29 p.m.-Richard Lawson, No. 2 in line, says, "I thought I was gonna get a free iPod. I already got a t-shirt."
4:30 p.m.-My phone's got a bit less than half a battery life left. Damn Steve Jobs
4:31 p.m. "It's hot like bacon out here," says the first guy in line, who identifies himself as Zeus Shytbagh. (Probably not his real name.) Turns out, his uncle works here and he didn't even know! "He could've gotten me a job," says Zeus. The second guy in line isn't so bothered by the heat. "I'm in a long sleeve shirt. I'm good. This cool," he says. "I could stand out here in a leather jacket. We been out here since 1:30." The velvet rope next to him keeps coming loose from its pole.
4:32 p.m.-Line is down to M Street. Make that, wrapping around M Street. Gotta be over 100.
4:36 p.m.-Protesters show up. "Enough" is the name of the organization. Protest to end genocide and crimes against humanity.
4:40 p.m.- [via email] Shit I think too many ppl r texting. It stopped going thru. Also I'm charging my phone in the store
4:53 p.m.-"No life is worth more than a penny," says demonstrator Gregory Rockson (pictured left) Also: I think I'm getting suburned. At least I got a free t-shirt!
4:56 p.m.-300 ppl in line. 300 iPhones. A mugger's dream!
4:59 p.m.-Store opens to the public.
Photos from Kim Chi Ha's iPhone
