Yeah, but its not how "Apple Rolls", as you put it.
How Apple rolled in the past was that they conducted a pre-order before product shipment, and then had one day for both in-store availability and pre-order delivery. This was great; if you lived 50 - 100 miles from a store and wanted to save the gas, or wanted to make sure you got the SKU you really wanted.
This was SOP for the iPad 1, for the ATT iPhone 4 and the Verizon iPhone 4.
Splitting the delivery date and in-store pick up like they did is new. They did it to increase lines with the hope it would also increase media attention and hype. The last launch (the Verizion iPhone 4), Apple was shamed at the low turnout, not that they sold so few phones, but people liked pre-ordering better than coming into the store and waiting.
I'd be mad to. To feed the Apple hype machine, people had to wait hours, and then in many cases not get the SKU they wanted. Before, it was option if you wanted the 'community', you could wait in line. This time it was mandatory. It seems like a high price to pay for the glorification of Apple in the media.
