Orange County Register

Holy iCow! Sonya ‘iGirl’ Smith camped out in front of the Apple store in Irvine for more than 10 hours last night, only to wait another hour and 28 mintues more to finally get her shiny, new, white, 16-GB iPhone 2.0. Well, she is iGirl. She’s been updating her status all night at ocregister.com/money. Here is her wrap up of the experience (called in via her new iPhone):

It took about an hour and a half, but I have it. And it’s beautiful!

They delay was caused by the need to activate AT&T accounts. Last year, you just handed Apple the cash and got the phone, which you activated later at home. But because it’s taking a half-hour to activate one user, the Apple store this morning is giving customers the option to activate new iPhones at home. But obviously, I didn’t want to do that. The line is definitely slow but all the employees are working one-on-one with customers to make sure they are set up.

It cost me about $400 (the iPhone was $299) because I also spent $69 for Apple Care insurance, a case and a screen protector. Plus, there was an $18 upgrade fee from AT&T. I got a cool case, a Belkin silicon sleeve, that is black but the back of it lets the white of my iPhone show through.

The experience has a different feel than last year because it’s such a process to set it up. Last year, you were running out of here screaming and the crowd was cheering. The first 5 people were cheering and excited when they left. But last year, people were screaming their heads off, like they just won the Super Bowl. This year, most of the people I’ve seen already have an iPhone. Or else, it’s been around for so long, it’s not like, ‘Omigosh, this beautiful thing.’

If you’re planning to get one today, I’d recommend that you check online to see that you have everything needed to get set up. Also, check out nearby AT&T stores, which may have the model you want if the Apple store doesn’t. Hopefully, like last year, Apple will post which stores still have iPhone left. The employees here won’t tell me how many are available. Everything is hidden in the back, unlike last year when they stocked cabinets and drawers in the store with iPhones. There’s no way of telling how many they have.

Mr. Perry White [iGirl's name for her new gadget] is doing well. I can’t wait to get home and play with MobileMe and download applications and get rolling because the applications is going to be the best part of having this.

I’m really glad I got here when I did. But I don’t know if I’ll wait for another one. But we’ll see when the next iPhone comes out.

I was about number 15 in line and there were at least 200 people in line. I have no clue if this is going to sell out. I think the 16 GB white ones will go first, but I don’t know. They’re suggesting that you call the Apple stores the night before you come in to see if they have what you want.

It was very much worth it — camping out and waiting, that is. The reason why is that it was unnerving enough to have to wait outside for all the iPhones to get activated for the first group of people [iGirl was in the second group of people let into the store]. People who showed up at 4 a.m. will have to wait in a long line because it’s taking so long to get people activated and plugged in.

I’m really glad I got here when I did. But I don’t know if I’ll wait for another one. But we’ll see when the next iPhone comes out.

Coming later today: iGirl examines the iPhone and offers her analysis.

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