I just got back from the Apple Store and am now the proud owner of an iPhone 3G S 32 GB in basic black. I can't wait to get at it, but before dive in, I want to write a bit about the experience.

Driving to the Apple store at the Walt Whitman Mall in Huntington, NY, I drove past an AT&T store which had no line and very few cars in the parking lot. When I got to the Apple store, it was a different story. There was a bit of a line or actually two lines, but nothing big. When I got to one of the Apple reps at the start of the line, I was asked if I pre-ordered. I had, and my name was on the list. I was told to stand on a line of only five people, the other line of people who had no pre-ordered numbered fourteen.

It was about 1:50 pm when I got there and I was curious to see how the Apple experience would differ from what I was accustomed to. The last few times I bought a cellphone, it was a slow, laborious process where the store rep had to take a ton of information from me, get a credit check, wait, find a phone, wait, get more information from me, wait, take the phone to the back to infuse it with life by chanting arcane spells and pushing arcane buttons, wait, hear a canned sales pitch on how the phone would be absolutely no good without a dozen or so accessories that they would be very happy to sell me, refuse, wait, sign a sheave of documents, wait, get the okay, a shopping bag and a receipt and finally leave the story after well over an hour. Let's see how Apple does it.

While waiting in the line with a bottle of Poland Spring Water given to me by an orange-shirted rep, I struck up a conversation with Angelo Vergara who was trading in his three month-old 16 GB model for the same capacity in a 3G S. He told me a story that made me do a double-take. Angelo could have upgraded a year ago according to his contract, but didn't. Instead, he bought his iPhone 3G a few months ago. To upgrade it would cost him $399. That sounded a bit steep. I asked him why he couldn't just cancel his contract, sell the 3G iPhone and pay the early termination fee, and then start a new contract along with paying only $199 for his new phone. He told me that doing so would lose his phone number which he was not wont to do. The net dollars spent would be close, but it seems like he was caught in an odd concatenated AT&T policy. When I got to the front of the line, I asked Jane, my sales rep if this was, in fact, policy and she told me it was. Seems somewhat fishy though.

If you are looking for an iPhone 3G to spend your money on (and who isn't), look no further than your local BestBuy. Last night, BestBuy stores around the country started selling their newly acquired stock of iPhone 3Gs. This deal between Apple and the big-box giant was most likely a strategy to relieve the long waits at AT&T/Apple Stores.

We at TUAW do have a question: Does this change your iPhone buying habits? Will you buy an iPhone at BestBuy, or will you continue to buy at the Apple Store? We want to know, so take part in our poll and chat about in the comments.


Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

Website MacScoop discovered that Apple will open a store in Rome later this month, the 31st of March at 9:00 AM. The first 1000 visitors will receive a free Apple T-Shirt because you know those Italians, they're really big on wearing free T-Shirts...not! Even though Italian society continues to change, as far as I can tell from a sampling of relatives, the Buon' affare-ness of the free offer will almost certainly be offset by their complete disdain for the brutto figuro brutta figura[1] of the T-Shirts. Remember: It's more important to look good than to feel good!

Apple Store Roma Est aprirà sabato 31 marzo alle 9:00. Prendete parte ai festeggiamenti per l'apertura di Apple Store, Roma Est. Partecipate all'inaugurazione e, se sarete fra i primi 1000 visitatori, ricevete gratuitamente una T-shirt Apple.

Oh by the way, if you're looking for a job? Apple Roma is hiring.

[1] Thanks for the corrections

Update: I want to send regards to all our Italian readers who have stopped by to wish me well with my love life in such marvelously emphatic terms. I believe the translation you have been given is incorrect. This post only reflects that my Italian relatives, from an older generation, would never wear a t-shirt--free or not. The "look good/feel good" line comes from Saturday Night Live and Billy Crystal.

In what is surely a response to Apple's success with its retail stores, Dell announced that they would be opening two full-sized stores later this year. One will be located in Dallas, and the other in New York.

According to the Austin-Statesman, Dell will not be changing its tried-and-trusted policy of building every machine to order. Customers at the Dell stores will be able to touch and use the computers on display but not buy and carry them away.

Hey, stop laughing. C'mon, who wants to actually carry home the computer they just purchased? I know I like waiting a week for my purchases, don't you?

Not to be left out, eMachines has announced that they will be opening an island sales kiosk in the Cherryland Mall in Traverse City, MI. There won't actually be any computers on display, but there will be lots of glossy pictures.

[Via Digg]