7:45 AM

Get in line at the Apple Store.

7:55 AM

(A friend shows up and gets cutsies.)

8:00 AM

They start selling the iPhone.

9:00 AM

(Another friend shows up and gets cutsies.)

9:30 AM

One of the kids in line ahead of me goes to the AT&T store and finds out they only have 10 more phones but there’s 30 people in line.

10:30 AM

I call 611 to make double-check that I’m not a “Corporate Client.” The written instructions on the web said that the only thing that prevents me from buying the phone at the Apple Store is if I’m a “Corporate Client.”

11:30AM

The kid in line ahead of me tells me that there’s a new rule: if you get any sort of business discount on your phone, you can’t buy the iPhone at the Apple Store. So I call 611 again and get AT&T to cancel my discount; they tell me it’ll take 15 minutes.

12:30 PM

I finally make it into the store. The computer rejects me because I’m a corporate client. The Apple “Specialist” calls AT&T and finds out that my discount is cleared off the AT&T computer in 15 minutes, but isn’t sent to Apple for up to 24 hours. I’m given a coupon and sent on my way.

So that’s what I got after waiting in line for five hours (and a year after seeing it at WWDC 2007) instead of an iPhone. A *%!&@# coupon. I should have known. Every time I got a new phone from Cingular, I had to call customer service to clear up my service. I was even told once, after being transferred four times, to just do whatever I could to get a phone and then call in to fix things because there’s no way the web site would do the right thing.

I did, however, buy an iPhone for one of the friends who got cutsies. She forgot to bring enough money.

Update – 8:30PM

I went back tonight because I’m foolish. It was only 14 hours, not the 24 hours they suggested. No joy. I followed up by going to the AT&T store and who did I see but the guy who helped me with my iPhone! He’s having troubles as well. In any case, AT&T saw no problems with my account, but Apple did. Phooey.