Apple fans pay tribute to Jobs in scramble for latest smartphone
It is the US giant’s first new release since the death of co-founder Steve Jobs.
The iconic chief executive’s death brought a more sombre air than usual to some of the Apple shops celebrating the launch of the iPhone 4S, with fans laying flowers alongside the long queues waiting for their chance to buy.
Apple users see themselves as an elite group, and their sense of community was boosted by the tributes for Jobs and by jokes about the debacle suffered by Apple rival Blackberry, whose mobile network was disrupted this week.
In Frankfurt, scuffles broke out in the queue as many shoppers camped overnight, in Paris several of the most prized versions of the model sold out at dawn and in London more than 300 fans mobbed the brand’s biggest store.
“I was the fourth one here to get the new iPhone!” said 20-year-old Anton Makhlov, a student from San Diego, California, in transit in Frankfurt waiting for his flight to his Russian homeland.
“I slept two nights in front of the Apple Store, it was ok. I had every generation of iPhone before, so I needed to get this one too. Besides, it is the last device from Steve Jobs.”
Some love Apple’s range of computers, smartphones and media tablets because they have changed the way consumers relate to technology.
In some cases, they have changed users’ entire way of life.
“I used to work as a bin man, then I submitted an app that achieved success in 2009. Without Apple as a company I would still be emptying dustbins,” said Rob Shoesmith, 30, from Coventry.
Others were still in awe of Jobs’s achievement and in shock at his death.
“It did actually make me want the iPhone more,” said 42-year-old forex trader Duncan Hoare.
“I was devastated, I didn’t actually believe it. He was Apple, the creativity he gave to Apple products is what made them.”
In Paris, the Apple store had barriers in place to contain the crowds — both locals and tourists — who kept vigil overnight until its 8am opening, when they rushed the shelves.
Each customer was given a reference number to avoid disappointment.
“If you want the 64-gigabyte model, in black or in white, you’ll have to come back tomorrow,” a security guard shouted.
And in the US, Jobs’s Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak paid tribute to his collaborator by camping out overnight.
“The long wait begins. I’m first in line,” Wozniak posted on his Twitter feed on Thursday from outside an Apple store in Los Gatos, California in the heart of Silicon Valley.
Yesterday’s launch did not extend to all corners of the planet but the party begun on the other side of the world, as hundreds queued outside Apple’s flagship stores in Sydney and Tokyo, filming themselves on their iPhones as staff inside clapped, cheered and chanted.
“It feels amazing, it is one of the greatest feelings in the world so far,” said Tom Mosca, 15, who was first through the door in Sydney after queuing for more than three days to snare an iPhone 4S.
“I did it for Steve Jobs as a tribute. I was very sad at his passing,” he said on the pavement outside, where flowers surrounded a picture of the Apple icon who died last week aged 56 after suffering from cancer.
The device is expected to hit Irish shelves in two weeks.
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