Camping out for a new Apple product is a time-honored tradition. Outsiders think it’s crazy, and even some insiders do — couldn’t you preorder it this year — but waiting for the product is just part of the reason you do it. It’s really about the camaraderie, the friendship, the adventure.
Craig Fox, organizer of the upcoming JailbreakCon, is roughing it on the streets of London outside Apple’s flagship Regent Street Store. Even if you’ve never considered waiting in line for a new Apple product, his account of the experience might just change your mind.
Here’s his report:
“We came last night [Tuesday] at midnight. We actually did seven days for the iPhone 4S in October, and two days for iPad 2. It’s actually a great time. It’s nearly the same people every year, so the camaraderie is brilliant. Adventures galore. Most years we are approached by Russians to buy the iPads so they can export them and sell them for double the price. We have been asked to wear t-shirts for app developers, the list goes on and on.
I have to be honest, the question we get asked CONSTANTLY is “What are you queuing for?”, so we play a little game to keep ourselves occupied. This year its “We are waiting for Justin Bieber tickets.” Last year it was “We are waiting for Neil Armstrong, as there is astronaut training here” (LOL).
We are in a prime location. There are many fast food places, coffee shops, and we take it in turns to go get food and drink as the others wait in line. Last year for the 4S, myself and Daniel James (Team member) joined a gym to stay clean and washed. All in all it’s a great time, and I would advise anyone to do it at least once in their life.
I have used it as a great marketing tool for WWJC, and it has worked on some level. For example, we were featured today on Macworld. I have made many contacts from it. In fact we have plans to queue in San Francisco for 10 days for the next iPhone.”
Check JailbreakCon’s twitter account (@JailbreakCon) for updates and Craig’s personal twitter (@flawlessfox) for instagram photos from the day.
Cult of Mac’s own Brittany Morford will be waiting in line in Boston starting at 3:30 a.m. Friday. We will be updating the Cult of Mac Twitter stream with photos and stuff.
And if you are camping out yourself, don’t miss our survival guide.
Leander Kahney is the editor and publisher of Cult of Mac.
Leander is a longtime technology reporter and the author of six acclaimed books about Apple, including two New York Times bestsellers: Jony Ive: The Genius Behind Apple’s Greatest Products and Inside Steve’s Brain, a biography of Steve Jobs.
He’s also written a top-selling biography of Apple CEO Tim Cook and authored Cult of Mac and Cult of iPod, which both won prestigious design awards. Most recently, he was co-author of Cult of Mac, 2nd Edition.
Leander has been reporting about Apple and technology for nearly 30 years.
Before founding Cult of Mac as an independent publication, Leander was news editor at Wired.com, where he was responsible for the day-to-day running of the Wired.com website. He headed up a team of six section editors, a dozen reporters and a large pool of freelancers. Together the team produced a daily digest of stories about the impact of science and technology, and won several awards, including several Webby Awards, 2X Knight-Batten Awards for Innovation in Journalism and the 2010 MIN (Magazine Industry Newsletter) award for best blog, among others.
Before being promoted to news editor, Leander was Wired.com’s senior reporter, primarily covering Apple. During that time, Leander published a ton of scoops, including the first in-depth report about the development of the iPod. Leander attended almost every keynote speech and special product launch presented by Steve Jobs, including the historic launches of the iPhone and iPad. He also reported from almost every Macworld Expo in the late ’90s and early ‘2000s, including, sadly, the last shows in Boston, San Francisco and Tokyo. His reporting for Wired.com formed the basis of the first Cult of Mac book, and subsequently this website.
Before joining Wired, Leander was a senior reporter at the legendary MacWeek, the storied and long-running weekly that documented Apple and its community in the 1980s and ’90s.
Leander has written for Wired magazine (including the Issue 16.04 cover story about Steve Jobs’ leadership at Apple, entitled Evil/Genius), Scientific American, The Guardian, The Observer, The San Francisco Chronicle and many other publications.
Leander is an expert on:
Apple and Apple history
Steve Jobs, Jony Ive, Tim Cook and Apple leadership
Apple community
iPhone and iOS
iPad and iPadOS
Mac and macOS
Apple Watch and watchOS
Apple TV and tvOS
AirPods
Leander has a postgrad diploma in artificial intelligence from the University of Aberdeen, and a BSc (Hons) in experimental psychology from the University of Sussex.
He has a diploma in journalism from the UK’s National Council for the Training of Journalists.
Leander lives in San Francisco, California, and is married with four children. He’s an avid biker and has ridden in many long-distance bike events, including California’s legendary Death Ride.
You can find out more about Leander on LinkedIn and Facebook. You can follow him on X at @lkahney or Instagram.
