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
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.
Apple sold half a million iPhones in its opening weekend, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster estimates.
Munster was impressed with the raw speed at which the iPhones were sold. Some stores had 50 cashiers selling 1,000 iPhones an hour, he said. Most were the 8-Gbyte model.
It looks like the iPhone is beginning to sell out. Almost every store in California is out, except for one San Francisco store. However, there are iPhones available in New York and other states.
But I bet they’ll be sold out by the weekend. EBay sellers disappointed that the handsets aren’t being snapped up need only wait a week or two and they’ll be scarce again. (iPhone Not Quite The Cash Cow eBay Sellers Were Hoping: by Corey Spring, Newsvine)
The iPhone is gadget heaven. It really does restore your sense of childlike wonder. I’ve had a blast all weekend running my greasy finger over its glassy surface.
It’s a Crackberry for the masses. Finally, mobile email, messaging and web browsing is fun and easy — how did it take so long?
I’ve had a Treo and cell phone email for years, but never, ever used them — they’re a mess. Now I’m an iPhone text addict — a 41-year-old acting like a teenager.
I bought one on Friday and have been out around town with my kids all weekend. The little angels monopolized it, surfing the web and watching YouTube. They figured it out immediately. I showed them one thing — how to use your fingers to shrink and zoom — that was it. I took some calls, surfed the web and sent some email.
I found it’s not all roses — there’s serious issues using it for work — but in general, we’re true believers.
The Good and The Bad after the jump. Plus camera phone samples.
I’m watching the iPhone lines get longer and longer while I’m shackled to my desk all day. I’ll be lucky if I get out of here late afternoon. I’ll probably head to a mall in South San Francisco in the vain hope it’ll be less of a zoo than downtown San Francisco.
Photo of Greg Packer, first in line at Apple’s 5th Ave. store, from Wikipedia.
People think Apple users are all black-turtleneck wearing graphic artists who wear poncy designer glasses, but look at the mixed bunch lining up in NYC for an iPhone.
1. Greg Packer (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Packer)
2. David Clayman (Future Inforte – CHICAGO SAP Consultant)
3. Jessica Rodriguez (Whipsmart woman with wicked soundbites
4. Rebecca Boorsma (Hair stylist)
5. Anthony Cardozo (Air Force Vet, Arabic Speaker, Purple Heart)
6. Kai Pauli (Security Guard at UN, German Speaker)
7. Benjamin Sherman (Unknown)
8. Vincent Nguyen (Entrepreneur, myitablet.com)
9. Damian Charles (High school student)
10. Mark Conn (Watch him wink!)
Steve Jobs is so stoked about the iPhone launch on Friday, he’s giving a rare company-wide pep talk at Apple HQ on Thursday. As far as I know, he’s not held one of these since the early days of returning to the company in 1997.
From: Steve Jobs
Date: June 27, 2007 1:47:55 PM PDT
To: XXXXXX
Subject: Town Hall Meeting Tomorrow
Team,
We’re launching the most revolutionary and exciting product in Apple’s history this Friday. And given Apple’s legacy of breakthrough products, that’s saying a lot.
I’d like to get together and share my thoughts about this amazing moment for our company. So please join me for a company-wide communications meeting tomorrow, Thursday, at 11:00AM in Town Hall.
This meeting will also be broadcast to other Apple campus locations. Please check XXXXXX for details.
There’s more fascinating detail on Greg Packer at Wikipedia:
“Greg Packer (born December 18, 1963), an American highway maintenance worker from Huntington, New York, has been quoted in more than 100 articles and television broadcasts as a member of the public (that is, a person on the street rather than a newsmaker or expert).
Packer’s status as a frequent interviewee came about due to his hobby of attending public appearances of celebrities and other media events and being first in line on such occasions. He has consequently had the opportunity to meet people including Mariah Carey, Garth Brooks, Dennis Rodman, and Ringo Starr, as well as at least three presidents of the United States: Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush.”
Even columnist Ann Coulter has sussed him out. After Packer was widely quoted in a NYT piece about fans of Hilary Clinton, Coulter went investigating. She found:
It was easy for the Times to spell Packer’s name right because he is apparently the entire media’s designated “man on the street” for all articles ever written. He has appeared in news stories more than 100 times as a random member of the public. Packer was quoted on his reaction to military strikes against Iraq; he was quoted at the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, the Thanksgiving Day Parade and the Veterans Day Parade. He was quoted at not one — but two — New Year’s Eve celebrations at Times Square. He was quoted at the opening of a new “Star Wars” movie, at the opening of an H&M clothing store on Fifth Avenue and at the opening of the viewing stand at Ground Zero. He has been quoted at Yankees games, Mets games, Jets games — even getting tickets for the Brooklyn Cyclones. He was quoted at a Clinton fund-raiser at Alec Baldwin’s house in the Hamptons and the pope’s visit to Giants stadium.
And as a result of the column, Packer got his own profile in the Times: “Long Island Everyman Masters the Sound Bite.”
Greg Packer, the first guy in line for an iPhone at Apple’s 5th Ave. store, is a seasoned, professional line sitter with years of experience.
Packer was first in line at Ground Zero, the first to sign NYC’s Princess Di condolence book and slept in the snow in Washington to see GW Bush after his inauguration.
If there’s any kind of event in New York that requires lining up, Packer is there, reported the Columbia News Service in 2002.
“Packer has made obsessions out of being first in line and of being in the company of celebrities,” the news service wrote.
“This is what I like doing,” he said. “You only live once, you might as well make the most of it.”
The iPod’s scroll wheel is doomed. Multitouch is such a compelling user experience, it must supplant the scroll wheel. Writes Newsweek’s Steven Levy in one of the first reviews of the iPhone:
Also, the new way of navigating–swiping down your song list or fast-browsing by skimming your finger on a vertically arranged alphabet on the right of the screen–is a superior interface.
I can’t see Apple selling another large-capacity iPod with the old scroll wheel interface. Everyone is going to want multitouch, and maybe soon Apple will have the economies of scale to put it on a sub-$400 device. I doubt the nano will go multitouch, but it’s the beginning of the end for the wheel.
Photo by AFP. Greg Packer, first in line for an iPhone at Apple’s 5th Ave. store.
iPhone waiters are coming out of the woodwork: there’s dozens now advertising on San Franciso’s Craigslist.
The competition is driving down prices. There’s several advertising for $100 or less.
There’s one guy who wants $500 — but says he’ll deliver.
There’s some new kinds of ads also.
There’s a couple of lonely weirdoes advertising for instant friends to hang out with during the long wait in line (one’s mentions his sexuality, but assures it’s platonic). An unspecified media company is looking for reporters to do man-on-the-street interviews.
And another company claiming to be Apple is looking for people to hand out flyers. But the ad has typos, which makes one suspect it’s actually the Musty Chiffon Strip Club.
One of the infamous iPhone waiters at Apple’s 5th Ave. store has gone home to New Jersey for some shut eye, he writes on his blog.
In addition, Vicarious Music, the blog that first spotted the pair, reports that the line has now grown to five, but both chairs at the front of the line are empty.
Suspicious. Will the others hold their spots for the next three days?
An enterprising New Yorker has a small office for rent right above an AT&T store on 34th Street. The lease is very short. It expires on Friday, the day the iPhone goes on sale. It’s being offered as the perfect place to camp out for an iPhone.
The ad reads:
“small office space available. short term rental next week. directly above att 34th street store in manhattan. if you are camping out for the Iphone this is the place to hang out. limited number of spots available. bathroom and coffee. spots wont last! directly above main door to att. one flight up!”
We’re trying out a new “beta” redesign here at Cult of Mac by the genius graphic designer Rob Beschizza, who is also a Wired News contributo.
The site may be slow for a few days and there may be glitches. Please us know if there’s any problems in the comments below. Please also leave your general feedback.
– Graphics are not final; big files might make for longer download
times or poor performance on slow machines.
– Beware general oddness; there’s some rough, invalid markup, etc.
– Transparent PNGs will look messed up on IE6. Upgrade! But IE6
detection is coming.
It seems there’s more people looking for iPhone waiters on Craigslist than waiters available to wait.
In New York especially, waiters are in high demand. One particularly desperate guy wants his waiter to start camping out on Wed night — 60 hours before the iPhone goes on sale. (“I need an iPhone. Like, really need an iPhone.”)
But here’s the really galling part. He wants waiters with experience! “Interested applicants should have experience waiting in line,” the ad says.
The full desperate text:
Updated: Get Paid To Wait In Line… For An iPhone (Midtown) “Ok, so here’s the deal. I need an iPhone. Like, really need an iPhone. It’s so bad, I’ve taken to carrying around my paper cut-out just to get used to the size. ANYWAY, I’m looking for 1 or 2 industrious folks to setup camp outside the 5th Avenue Apple Store 6:00am, Wednesday the 27th until 6:00pm on Friday the 29th. That’s 60 hours of chilling and doing nothing… and getting paid. Or maybe getting your very own iPhone if we can buy more than 1! Interested applicants should have experience waiting in line. You are responsible for any supplies, food, etc. that you may need during your stay. If you want to be considered for this rather bizarre, very odd, and slightly fun assignment, please get in touch right away…”
Meanwhile, in L.A, waiters must be reliable and focused; in San Francisco, creeps and criminals need not apply; and in NYC, security in apparently not an issue.
Apple has become the third largest music retailer in the U.S., besting Amazon in fourth, according to the latest quarterly survey by NPD Group.
Apple now has a 10 percent market share behind Wal-Mart (15.8 percent) and Best Buy (13.8).
Previously in fifth place, Apple leapt over Target and Amazon.
NPD said Apple benefitted from sales of iPods over the holidays, and a slowdown in CD sales. Year-on0year, CD sales are down by 20 percent in the first quarter, according ot Nielsen Soundscan.
Apple and Amazon are the only companies in the top 10 that sell digital downloads.
There are waiters advertising on Craigslist these days — iPhone waiters, that is.
Several people are advertising on Craigslist their willingness to line up for others for an iPhone later this week — for a fee, of course. The going rate is about $250 a day — 6AM to 6PM, when the device goes on sale.
Some have suggested this service will be performed by desperate homeless people, but a quick survey of the ads suggests that unemployed clowns make up the ranks of iPhone waiters.
The same clowns, or perhaps stunt doubles, are willing to wait in line in New York:
“2 clowns, unemployed and hungry, willing to wait in line for two separate individuals, 250 a pop, guaranteeing you get yourselves that tasty little iPhone on June 29th! email me asap, I will spend all day and night that day and bring it to you!” — Need an iPhone? I’ll WAIT ON LINE FOR YOU for TWO ppl! – $250 (Upper West Side)
There’s a slick iPhone ad shot in New York City at iPhoneNewYorkCity.com. It’s clearly made by pros — there was a casting call in April — but there’s no info on the ad’s site except the creators’ names: Alec Sutherland, Anthony Hechanova, Todd DosSantos and Shane Annas.
Delicious Library 2, which has a snazzy new UI based on Core Animation, wins an Apple’s 2007 Design Award for Best Leopard Application. Still no screenshots of it though.
It’s a beautiful sunny morning here in San Francisco, and Wired News will be liveblogging Steve Jobs’ keynote at WWDC. We have reporters. We have cameras, and we have press passes. Check it out here at 10 AM. Don’t forget to refresh.
