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Thursday night iPhone lineup at Apple Store Santa Monica (with pictures)

On the night of Thursday, July 28th, the iPhone action in the Los Angeles area wasn't at Apple's trendy Grove location, where security wasn't allowing enthusiasts to camp out overnight, but instead a few miles west at the Third Street Promenade Apple Store in nearby Santa Monica. As of 12:30 am local time Thursday night / Friday morning, several dozen iPhone hopefuls had staked their spot in line with folding chairs, pillows and blankets, and not surprisingly, more than a few iPods and Mac laptops. One early arriver reported that before closing, the Apple Store's management had provided campers with not only bottled water but also with rudimentary electrical hookups in order to keep their laptops running throughout the night.



Our attempts to interview the first person in line failed due to the fact that he was sleeping at the time, but our interview with the fifth person in line revealed that he was part of a tag team that had been in line since about noontime Thursday, placing his entourage's total expected campout time at thirty hours when all is said and done.



Although the vast majority of laptops spotted in line were of the Macintosh variety, the publishers of new iPhone-related publication intoiphone.com were sporting both Mac and Dell laptops and were in fact using their MacBook Pro's built-in webcam to stream live video of themselves while standing in line.



The line continued to grow while we were on-site and appeared to stretch to more than fifty people by the time of our departure at 1:30 am.

iProng's ongoing coverage of the iPhone launch will continue Friday morning from the Apple Store at The Grove in Los Angeles.

On the eve of iPhone: a new generation of personal computing?

I've never been a big fan of convergence. I come from the "right tool for the right job" school of thought, the idea being that I'd rather have many devices that each do one thing well than one device than one device that does many things poorly. So much so that when Steve Jobs announced he was about to roll out three devices in January, I almost took him literally.

But the lines really have become blurred, haven't they? Earlier today I received an international phone call on my computer. Yesterday I used my telephone to send a photograph to someone. And as I sit at my desk and write this, I'm not sure whether I should be using my computer or my iPod to listen to music; it's the same music either way.

The idea that a technological device can only truly be good at one task has been dying for awhile now, hasn't it? Not that some industries have helped the case any. My current cell phone doesn't seem to be good at much of anything, and that includes making phone calls. But a glance over the five year history of the iPod reveals that Apple has added features including podcasting, video games, and full-length movies to a device that was originally supposed to be nothing more than a music player. And you know what? The current iPod isn't one bit more difficult or confusing to use than the original was. In fact, I've got seventeen iPods sitting here and I can tell you first-hand that when it comes to listening to music, the current iPod generation is the most intuitive yet.

I've spent just enough time with so-called Smartphones over the past few years to conclude that I wasn't smart enough to use one; every time someone hands me one, I have to ask for help in doing something as simple as making a phone call. But then again, my current phone, which is fairly basic in its feature set, sports such a clunky interface that it continues to confound me to this day. So it's not necessarily that Smartphones are frustrating to use because they try to do too much. It's that the philosophy behind cell phone interfaces in general has been so ill-conceived that these devices never never even stood a chance.

And I'm far from the only one who feels skeptical when it comes to phones. A few hours after Steve Jobs announced the iPhone, I asked Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead what he thought of it. His reply was "I just want to know how good a phone it is. If it's a good phone, I'm getting one." It's not that he or anyone else doubts Apple ability to pull off an intuitive cell phone. It's just that if the iPhone is indeed an intuitive as a cell phone, then it'll be the first one ever, won't it?

But I've trusted Apple this far, haven't I? It's not just the iPod, either. Over the past decade Apple has proceeded to add new out-of-the-box functionality to its Macintosh platform on a regular basis, and yet I find the current iteration of the Mac even easier to use than that original iMac I pulled out of the box back in the late 90's. So if Apple wants to combine my iPod and my Mac into one device, and replace my current cell phone in the process, I'm willing to trust them when they tell me that it'll make my life easier.

I would have had to acquire an iPhone for research and testing purposes anyway, if for no other reason than to begin reviewing the dozens of iPhone accessories that have already piled up here in my office and the hundreds more which will arrive over the next year. I've decided, however, that I'm going to take it a step further than that. As of Friday I'm tossing my current cell phone into a drawer and making the iPhone my one and only cell phone. And I'm parking all seventeen of my iPods, for now at least, and using only my iPhone for portable music playback. I'm also going to stop carrying my MacBook around with me to meetings and see just how far I can get by using the iPhone as my default laptop. If nothing else, I'll have plenty of experiences to write about.

But my skepticism about convergence aside, if anyone can pull of a kitchen sink-type device that actually does several things well, it's gotta be Apple. And after seeing what they've managed to pull off when it comes to iPod and Mac evolution over the past few years, I'm ready to take the next leap. I suspect the iPhone represents at leas the first phase in the next generation of personal computing Ð one device to eventually replace them all Ð and starting today I'm willing to test that theory on my own self. Unless there's a specific reason, my iPods won't leave their docks for awhile, my MacBook won't leave the house, and my old cell phone won't leave the drawer. How's that for drinking the kool-aid in the name of journalism?

And no, you can't borrow one of my iPods while they're not being used.

Justin Long is never going to stop being the "Mac Guy"

Justin Long just appeared on the Tonight Show, and despite the fact that he was there to promote his major role in the movie Live Free or Die Hard, Jay Leno introduced him first as the "Mac Guy" from the commercials. Best I can tell, he's been getting more movie roles since he became known as the Mac Guy, but I think it's clear now that it's a notoriety he'd never be able to shed even if he wanted to.

I'm going to the Jimmy Kimmel Live taping tomorrow on Hollywood Boulevard, and it just so happens that "Mac Guy" will be the guest, so we'll see how Kimmel introduces him.

The new AT&T wants $1.74 from me

Whenever I hear the carrier formerly known as Cingular advertising itself as "the new AT&T" I can't help but think of The Who's classic line "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss." In other words, you can recycle a washed up brand name from decades past and try to pass yourself off as a fresh new company if you want, but it doesn't mean anything's changed.

My history with Cingular has been up and down, with my recent cell phone number change to a new area code definitely finding its way into the "down" category. Suffice it to say that when a company botches something so badly for you that they end up giving you a sizable credit without your even having to ask for it, you know it didn't go smoothly. At this point the number change is all squared away with no harm done (thanks for the credit anyway), and today I received my monthly bill. For $1.74. That's one dollar and seventy-four cents.



Because the bill was so large, the new AT&T was kind enough to offer me the option of paying only a portion of the bill...



...but I wonder: can you actually write a check for $1.74?



As I took several moments to ponder my payment options, the new AT&T was kind enough to log me out automatically. Probably because they didn't want anyone to see that they had actually sent me a bill for $1.74.



So I logged back in and promptly paid my bill, which went smoothly enough.



Now I owe them $0.00, which they made sure to point out will be due by July 8th.



As I was trying to figure out how I was going to come up with that kind of dough by the due date, the new AT&T decided to log me out again.



Meet the new AT&T. Same as the old AT&T.

Digg this

Do I have to move to the United Kingdom to buy Kate Walsh's new album through the iTunes Store?

British songstress Kate Walsh's new album Tim's House was released a few a weeks ago and peaked at number one in the UK iTunes Store, so it piqued my curiosity when I heard that she would be performing her first-ever headlining gig in the United States this evening at a small club just around the corner from me in Hollywood. Her brand of quiet folk music had the entire audience mesmerized, including me, for the entire length of her forty-five minute solo acoustic set.



So I get home just now and I can't wait to get my hands on her new album, but upon firing up the iTunes Store, all I can find is her previous two year old release. Did I misunderstand? Had it not yet been released? And if it wasn't out yet, how on earth did it reach number one on the UK charts? Then it occurred to me that "UK charts" was the operative phrase there, so I changed over to the UK iTunes Store and found her new album right away.

One little problem: if you live in the US, or for that matter anywhere in the world outside of the UK, don't bother trying to download it. Listen to the free samples, sure. But try to give iTunes the ten bucks (er, £5.49) to buy the album? Nope, sorry, not unless you've got a credit card with a UK billing address. Just to make sure I'm not losing it, I flip back to the US iTunes Store, and sure enough, it's definitely not there.

Funny enough, it's available here in the US from Amazon, if I want to engage in the quaint little outdated practice of having a physical CD shipped to me so I can waste time ripping it into iTunes on my own computer. But who still buys music that way? Okay, so I'm told that ninety percent-plus of all music buyers still do, but not in my universe.

Ironically, just this afternoon I was commenting that these days the only role physical CDs serve in my life are as collector's items. I grabbed a copy of I Trust You To Kill Me so I could get Rocco DeLuca and The Burden to autograph it after their gig at Starbucks in Santa Monica, and it'll go on the wall with the other autographed CDs I've collected over past few years. Nevermind that I've already owned the digital version of the album since before I interviewed Rocco back in April, I bought the physical CD today because it's something that can be written on with a marker. That's all that physical CDs mean to me these days. I'm certainly not interested in acquiring a physical CD for the purpose of listening to it; that's what the iTunes Store is for.



Don't get me wrong, I don't mind buying a physical CD when I encounter an indie band who's still so undiscovered that they're selling self-made CD-R's at a gig because they don't yet have the wherewithal to find their way into the iTunes Store. But when an album has already hit number one in the UK and the record label doesn't see fit to make it available for download in the US, something's not right.

A little digging reveals that Kate has released her latest album on her own indie label, meaning that there's no big bad record label to blame here. I don't know what the problem is. But here in 2007, shouldn't we collectively be past the stage where an album goes on sale digitally for users with a billing address in one country and not another?

To live (and hopefully not die) in LA

So I've gone and done it. I've moved to Los Angeles.

Okay, so it's not permanent. Not necessarily. I'm here for the summer. Maybe longer.

I had to step back and take an honest look at the industries I cover, and I realized that SoCal was the ideal place to cover them from. iPod universe? Check. Music industry? Check. Podcasting community? Check. Yeah, there are plenty of other places where those things exist. But in my travels I've found that LA represents the combined epicenter of all three. And so here I am.

In the week I've been here I've been working my tail off and I've already been to too many meetings to recount here, but the most beautiful fringe benefit of being here in LA is that the music scene is just overflowing. I've already seen the Black Crowes (who were introduced by Billy Bob Thornton and Cheech from Cheech and Chong), the Goo Goo Dolls, and Lifehouse (twice).

So what, you say? Didn't these bands come to your old neck of the woods? Yeah, sure. Sort of. I mean they came and played, but it was just a stop on the road for them. Here, these guys are home. They're doing shows in their own backyards and they just drive to the venues. At the Lifehouse concert, the drummer was just sort of hanging out in front of the venue before the show, giving me a chance to stop and talk with him. Opening for the Goo Goo Dolls was a newcomer by the name of Colbie Caillat, who then proceeded to hang out in front of the venue after her set in order to meet people:



Stupid me only had my cell phone and its crappy built-in camera at my disposal.

Today, Lifehouse was doing an in-store performance at Best Buy, so I went to see them again and this time met all three band members. The drummer thanks me for coming out to the show the other day. Apparently he remembered meeting me. Even remembered my name. That's just weird.



As you can see, I got smart enough to carry an actual camera with me.



Six years I've been trying to see this band perform. I'm in Los Angeles for a week and I've seen them perform twice, met all three band members, and the drummer knows my name.



And yeah, I bought my first physical CD in years just so I could get them to sign it. I'm not ashamed of it. I've been saying for awhile now that physical CDs are still fully relevant Ð as collector's items.

Tomorrow, Rocco DeLuca is performing at the Starbucks in Santa Monica. I saw him perform a few months ago in Charlotte, just before I climbed onto his tour bus and interviewed him, but I had to travel about eight hundred miles to make that happen. Now, he's playing down the street. How can you not go?



Last year I saw Pete Yorn perform in Fort Lauderdale and I distinctly recall him apologizing for the fact that it had been four years since he'd last performed in the area. When I chose June 11th as my fly-out date, I was bummed by the fact that I was going to miss Pete's June 10th concert in LA by just one day. But that's alright, he'll be back here performing in two months according to his website. So much for waiting another four years back home.

I went over to Hotel Cafe the other night and took in a few indie bands. None of them grabbed me, but there are so many indie bands playing at so many local venues on any given night that it's just a matter of time before I hit on something new that I really like, and then proceed to book them on iProng Radio. I mean, when the music venues are overflowing to the point that bands are performing at the electronics store and the coffee store just for something different, a die-hard music fan is in the right place.

I'm here in LA for professional reasons, I swear. The iPhone launches in what, eight days? This is the coast to be on for that. And we've already taped our first LA-based episode of iProng Radio in a real recording studio, which is rather nice upgrade over our previous "studio" which was also known as my living room. But I'll be darned if I'm not going to take advantage of the music scene while I'm here.

I've learned a few other things in the week I've been here. The OC is anywhere from 0.75 to 2.25 hours away, depending on what time of day I'm attempting to travel there. And no one called it "The OC" until the television show hit. There are plenty of left turn lanes here in LA but no left turn signals. There's something called parallel parking which is akin to taking your driver's test over and over again on a daily basis. Traffic is bad enough at certain times of day that if you're traveling less than a mile, you're better off walking; you'll get there quicker. They say there's no place to park in this city, but I've found a number of spacious parking lots; they're known as Highway 101, the 405, and I-10. I've spent hours parked on each.

But that's alright. I figure the roads are clogged for good reason. I've lived in places where the roads are empty and it's because there's nowhere to go and nothing to do. This isn't one of those places.

So how long will I stay? That's what everyone keeps asking. I honestly haven't thought about it much yet. I've been coming out here for about a week once every few months for the past year out of professional necessity, and right about now I keep looking at my watch and instinctively wondering how many days or hours I have left here before I have to reluctantly head home...and then I come to the realization that at least for the time being, this is home.

New cell phone number as of today

Cingular (ahem, the new AT&T) activated my new cell phone number today, which was a few days earlier than expected, meaning that the old number is immediately offline. So if you're trying to call me today and you're not getting anywhere, just email me for the new number.

You mean the iPhone's not already shipping?

It happened again last night. I was in the middle of a conversation with someone which eventually turned to the iPhone, and before long I was asked the question: "So do you have an iPhone yet?"

It's not because they think I broke into Apple's Cupertino headquarters and nabbed one while no one was looking. And it's not because they think Uncle Steve quietly slipped me a pre-production iPhone model sometime between giving one to Walt Mossberg and using another to make Bill Gates weep. It's because they think the iPhone is already shipping.

So this is what happens when you announce one of the most highly-anticipated products of the decade a full six months before it actually goes on sale. And for the record, it worked. Is there anyone, anywhere, not talking about it? I mean sure, Apple's running a television spots, but that's more or less icing on the word of mouth cake at this point. It doesn't really even matter what anyone's saying about it, now does it, so long as they're saying something about it. A few minutes ago Carson Daly just ran an iPhone spoof announcing that "This is a piece of crap" and as a result twelve thousand more people probably just decided to camp out overnight to be the first to buy one when it goes on sale in two weeks.

I'd love to see Apple release some hard data on just how many people are walking into an Apple Store each day trying to buy one. And for that matter, I'd love to know how many of those folks are instead walking out of the store with an armful of other Apple products when they hear "July 29th" and think "Hmm, I need something else with an Apple logo on it to play with in the mean time."

In fact, if the iPhone gets delayed beyond its June release date, I suspect Apple Store employees could try to placate the less-informed among the iPhone seekers by simply picking up any random computer part laying in the back room of the store, slapping an "iPhone" sticker on it, claiming it's an actual iPhone, and selling it for the full $499 plus a two year contract. I can just see some technophobe walking down Hollywood Boulevard trying to figure out why he's not getting better cell phone reception on the refurbished wireless router he's holding to his ear.

It's almost as if Apple has created so much wall to wall iPhone hype that they don't actually have to ever bring the product to market in order to sell it. "June 29th? We meant June 29th of some year, just not this year. But feel free to keep hyping it in the mean time." Somewhere right now, Andy Kaufman is watching and wondering, "Why didn't I think of that?"

I can't say that I blame people for their confusion. With this many people talking iPhone, how could a casual observer think it's not already on the market? I wouldn't be surprised if there aren't a few people out there who think they're actually using an iPhone right now.