New Zealander Jonny Gladwell was the first person in the world to get the coveted new Apple iPhone 3G. The university student spent two and a half nights camped outside the Vodafone store in Auckland to claim his moment in the spotlight. His friends bet him he wouldn’t last.
The iPhone was on sale in three shops throughout New Zealand at 12:01am on Friday 11 July. Expect the iPhone frenzy to continue as the rest of the world heads into Friday.
Now that it’s out, the wait begins for someone to pull the iPhone apart and reveal its intricacies.
Perhaps Luke Soules, an Apple repairman who waited for 27 hours in the queue in Auckland, will be that man.
“We’re actually going to take it apart and show the world how it works on the inside.”
He certainly has the edge time-wise.
As the pricing plan was released, Kiwis were quick to baulk at the “catch”—the high monthly charges.
The 16GB iPhone costs $349NZD, and is hiked up by the monthly charge of $250 for a gig of data in a two-year contract.
At the lowest end of the plan, the 8GB iPhone will cost a hefty $549NZD, while the monthly charge for 250 MB of data is $80 in a two-year contract.
Dr David Whittet waited five hours for his phone. He bought the 16GB phone because it is “much better value for the bigger volume”, he said.
Add to that a 500 MB monthly plan—and it’s a $3200 investment over two years.
“I think that’s OK, because you’re getting service for it,” he said.
“I spend a lot of time away from home on work, I think really when you compare it to using internet in hotels, it’s actually not that bad really. I think the price is reasonable.”
The Vodafone staff would not say how many iPhones they had for sale.
“We don’t have an exact number for you, we can’t give you an exact number, but we know they are strictly limited.”
By 9am, around 47 stores throughout New Zealand will be selling iPhones.
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