Hasta La Ideas

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pOne of the things technology is supposed to do, and has done a decent job of, is reduce the amount of time we spend waiting in lines. Self-checkout and barcode scanners speed the supermarket line; EZ-Pass and other regional automatic toll-collectors hasten the toll booth experience; and of course there’s the decades-old telephone reservation that prevents us from having to wait for a table at the bar./p

pWill the annual Apple Store Line spectacle finally come to an end, or at least reduce in size? People seem to be getting hip to the fact that waiting in overnight lines is for suckers when there’s a pre-order system in place. Which is probably why Apple and its associated partners–ATT and Radio Shack–A HREF=”http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/16/apple-received-more-than-600000-orders-for-the-iphone-4/?src=twttwt=nytimestech” took a record 600,000 pre-orders for the iPhone 4/A, with ATT reporting Iten freaking times/I the number of pre-orders as there were for the iPhone 3GS./p

pOverwhelming demand led ATT servers to famously (and unsurprisingly) crash, suspending the pre-order process for all parties involved, and ship dates have been pushed back to July 2nd. Many would-be customers that managed to successfully pre-order reported glitches, like being charged the full unsubsidized amount for the new iPhone, even though they were upgrade-approved. Still, I think I’d rather spend a frustrated 30 minutes on my computer or cell phone sorting it all out rather than multiple hours using my physical body to occupy a physical space on a sidewalk, holding my pee and sweating in the sun. The latter just seems barbaric.br /
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