I Won't Get Anything Done This Friday

I haven't really said anything about the iPhone. By now most of you know that I am a fan of Apple gear. I own an iMac, a PowerBook, an iPod, a shuffle, an Airport and a couple of non-functioning iBooks that I might get around to fixing and donating at some point. I will be buying an iPhone as well. I don't really care about the iPod features, but it does have everything I need in a phone. I love my Blackberry, but I am jonesing for a bigger screen and the visual voicemail sold me. Throw in full Safari and it is a winner. As for watching videos and listening to music, it will make the visit to the dentist office much more tolerable (as long as I am not getting my wisdom teeth removed again).

Obviously the iPhone has a lot of hype. Haters and fanboys can't stop talking about it. One thing that intrigued me was the person who started waiting in line 100 hours early. This person obviously has a lot of time on his hands, but it turns out he is a professional line-sitter. I thought about that and it amazed me that we have come to such a point in pop culture/entertainment/capitalism that people are not only willing to wait in line for the must-have gadget, but are willing to pay other people to wait in line for them. How much is that time worth? In Los Angeles, one person thinks it's worth $500.

I know this happened before with the X-Box and Playstation 3, but it seems like this is not a mere phenomenon anymore, and it seems like they hype on the iPhone is eclipsing them as well. I started wondering what people would pay others to stand in line for them. A movie? A big sale? Concert tickets? American Idol audition slot?

All I need now is a few million in venture capital.

PS Waiting in line was the theme of my latest post at Gridskipper.