I talked to the Apple store girl and on Friday they are closing at 4 pm to setup and reopening at 5pm for the launch. I know some were wondering how it would work standing in line for something when the store is already opened.

She said the line would probably start around midday. Of course, that's just a guess.

I spoke to our local Apple store today and they said they are not closing. They will have a sectioned area for people to line up that starts at the front door and goes outside. At 5 pm they will allow a few people in at a time for the 3g.

I called 2 Best Buys, with Apple stores inside, and neither had a clue that they were getting any 3gs and one even said I could call Friday morning to hold one. LOL

Yuck so that means there is no set way of doing this? I really don't get this 5 pm launch. Its so confusing.

Originally Posted by ICONYK

Yuck so that means there is no set way of doing this? I really don't get this 5 pm launch. Its so confusing.

No $$##. I can see the Apple stores having more control over the situatiion, but my local Best Buy opens at 10:00am. As I've said, how the heck can they manage doing business for the customers who want to buy a freeking TV amidst a throng of people in line to buy an iPad?

I have never participated in an 'opening day sideshow'.
I did see people waiting in line for the Xbox360 to be released, Best Buy had a roped off queue line for the 50 or so people waiting.
Given the recent WiFi iPad release, I would hope the stores have learned what to expect and handle it appropriately.

My first experienced lining up for the Wifi iPad at Best Buy was great. It was well organized. They set up a rope and handed out a SKU #'s to us at around 9:00 but the door didn't open till 10:00. Then depending on their availability, we were given a time limit as to how long we can hold onto SKU and open the availability to the whole public. I hope something happen again this next time around. I'm off this Friday and I'm lining up again.

Friday the 30th won't be a big deal. Why will the Apple stores have to close for an hour? Doesn't make any sense. Has there been an Apple press release on this or is it just Internet speculation?

Originally Posted by Sonny Burnett

Friday the 30th won't be a big deal. Why will the Apple stores have to close for an hour? Doesn't make any sense. Has there been an Apple press release on this or is it just Internet speculation?

This was direct from an employee at my local Apple store. It may be just this store doing it. No idea if its wide spread.

I imagine all the Apple stores will close for an hour. They want to get them set up on the display tables. Most types of stores could not do that, but Apple has that capacity. I like the idea that I will have my iPad before someone can go to the store. That may be why they did it. It is heck to be waiting for a ordered unit and any newbie can buy one before it gets delivery.

When I called our local Apple store they told me they would close at 4 and reopen at 5. On the Apple website it tells you under hours for each store that they will close for an hour.

I asked how early she "thought" people would start lining up and she guessed around 12 or as eary as the mall opened. I took the day off so I'm going to be spending some time hanging around the mall..