Does this mean the mayor of the 6th largest city in the country has nothing better to do than wait in line for a phone? I mean, seriously, that's what inters are for. Anyway, happy Jesus Phone day everyone, get luck getting your hands on one if you're trying.

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I too, am surprised that he didn't send an assistant or intern. I'm sure Mayors have vacation time like anybody else though. Perhaps he has been hit so hard by the reality distortion field that he is wasting vacation time to get an iPhone personally...

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With all the issues that Philadelphia has I would have expected the mayor to be otherwise occupied.

People, at the end of the day it is still just a phone. It will not, I guarantee, be a life altering experience and the iphone you buy tomorrow, next week, or next month will be exactly the same as the one you are waiting in line for today.

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Maybe the mayor wants to get out and actually rub elbows with his constituents? And what, exactly, is wrong with that?

And @ Jeff, if you think this is just a phone, you're delusional.

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Heh you guys get so bent out of shape easily.

I think it is kinda cool to see someone of that level NOT using the system to get it for him, and doing it himself like the rest of the "common" folk.

If he had sent an assistant the same people would be bitching that he was wasting city resources.

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Thank God, the best thing that John Street could do would be to get out of City Hall more often, so he doesn't go f'ing things up any further in this city then he already has. 221 murders so far this year sounds like progress to me...

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Our tax dollars hard at work. Good thing Mayor Street is on his way out and can't be re-elected.

Irony would be him getting his iPhone and then getting robbed, a victim of the ever increasing crime rate in the City of Brotherly Love. Or perhaps becoming murder victim #201.

Way to go, John.

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At least he knows he'll get the much coveted Apple fanboy vote.

Daring Fireball 2009!

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Most of this guy's consituents are too busy worrying about feeding their family, not getting shot, and keeping their home livable, if they have one. None of them could even dream of having enough cash to buy an iPhone. Philly is emblematic of our country's serious problem with poverty, violence, drug use, and homelessness. It sends a message about this mayor's priorities when he is spending a full workday in line to buy a new phone. Don't get me wrong, I lust for this phone just as much as anyone. I got to thinking: will there ever be a moment when, in six months of whipped up frenzy, millions of people were itching to line up to hand over $600 and $60 a month for two years to a charity organization? Think about that. I'm just as guilty as anyone of material lust, but it speaks to our national mindset whenever a new product gets us so excited. Too bad we can't all become as simultaneously passionate about something like, oh, I don't know -- ending the war? Food for thought.

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He's right down the street from where I work. I'm gonna print out my paper iPhone and make him jealous.

http://cache.gizmodo.com/assets/resources/2007/06/iphone_cutout.jpg

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Pete, you forgot to use George Bush's name in a derogatory way...

Look Pete, there are a thousand things we could all go without to help with world poverty. The iPhone is simply one of them. But to portray the iPhone as merely some piece of materialistic bling without acknowledging that it is a device that offers meaningful functionality that many of us want or need is just specious.

Some people blow more money in a day in Vegas than I'm going to spend on my iPhone.

P.S. you don't just "end" a war. You fight a war until the enemy is defeated. But now I'm digressing into politics, and why would I want to do that on a tech blog?

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why wait on line? they are selling them for $429...
http://www.smart-crew.com/images/iphonedcevemarty.jpg

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@Quix, you are right... it's a Jesus phone.

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Go, Pete. Coudl'nt agree with you more.

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Street is well known for his blackberry obsession, so to see him (a business user) springing for one bodes well for the iPhone.

On a lighter note, my City has more murders than NYC, and 7 times less people...christ. They should maybe do a iPhone for gun exchange :P

Ohh and to all the morons who didnt vote for Katz, ................ yeah. Thanks.

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Did you know that this assclown of a mayor actually sleeps? Fully eight hours each night. It's an enormous waste of taxpayer dollars. Once he was spotted eating lunch. Seriously. Middle of the freaking day, and this guy's feeding his face. I understand he took a vacation for a few days last year. Paid vacation. The bastard.

I'm not at all surprised to hear that he'd be waiting in line. He's shown a pattern of sometimes not working, so I can't see how we could expect any better.

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Really, people? Mayor Street has long been a technology enthusiast. He was one of the movers and shakers behind offering free and reduced cost Internet access in low-income sections of Philadelphia. Nor is it likely he, personally, can solve all the problems of a modern urban metropolis. There's no reason I can think of for him not to do a little man on the street shopping.

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I'm just thanking God he's not in line to buy some hideous PC product, thankfully it's an Apple product. Does give him SOME credibility.

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Well he's not in line now...

http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/20070629_Street_out__aide_in__in_quest_for_latest_phone.html

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You can please some of the people some of the time, but you can't please all the people all of the time.

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