Some sad scenes from this morning...

[LateAppleFan]

I went back to the 14th street Apple store this morning right before 8AM to check out the line and the scene. I took some pictures yesterday afternoon when the line was half way down the street(posted here). This morning, the line has stretched from 9th Ave all the way to 10th Ave and wrapped around the corner to who knows where.

A large stretch of the street reminded of scenes from a refugee camp, with a few poor little babies who have apparently spent the night on the sidewalk. Take a look for yourself.

(Edited: Moved the pictures to Google Drive from Dropbox due to traffic limit.)

A lot of the foreigners waiting in line do not speak English at all. The Apple store employees were going down the line to get everybody's names and the iPhone model they want to buy. They were having a very hard time communicating with them. There was an elderly Chinese lady holding a piece of paper with her name in Chinese characters, looking desperate and engaging in a futile conversation with an employee. I speak Cantonese well and can manage a little Mandarin, so I tried to help. But she spoke in a dialect that I couldn't understand and I can't read Chinese characters. The employee said he needed a name, and the lady has no passport or any ID with her. I felt so bad that she spent the night there and ended up with no iPhones.

The entrance on 9th Ave is for the Reservations line, for those who have pre-ordered and selected in-store pick-up. The people waiting in line here resembled more of the typical iPhone user I see around in my West Village neighborhood.

A peek inside the Apple store checkout counter:

The lucky new iPhone6 owners and the NYPD helping to register your new phones

 

[uchosen]

Looks like an Occupy encampment in some of those.

 

[Phonzoxd]

All your images are broken.

Ill be heading down to the soho store in a hour to pick up my pre order.

 

[Vorpal279]

Man, that looks stressful and brutal. So glad I don't live in a big city like that. Only nine people in line at my Verizon store at 7 AM.

 

[nepalisherpa]

Most of them look like they are there to flip the purchase.

 

[jpeg42]

This is a very sad sight indeed. I love my gadgets, but this obsession is getting to be too much.

 

[whirldy]

All your images are broken./QUOTE]
Not broken here.

 

[richpjr]

I just cannot fathom waiting in a line like that to get a phone. I ordered mine online at midnight, but am usually still awake at that time so it's not like it was a big stretch. I could not see setting an alarm to get up at 3AM or waiting in those lines for a phone! I love technology as much as the next person but life is too short to spend time like that for a phone where I could get one a week or two later. But hey, I guess people enjoy that kind of stuff so more power to them!

 

[JRoDDz]

Is this in chinatown?

 

[kmj2318]

Very eerie...

Really great pictures.

 

[MonkeySee....]

Most of them look like they are there to flip the purchase.

yeah. The first few do not look like they have any interest in owning a new iPhone.

 

[aham23]

this make me sad. what is wrong with people? sersiously.

 

[erzhik]

Never seen so many homeless people before. And what's up with the cops writing down phone's serial?

 

[jkim3691]

Karma for the scalpers who couldn't get the phones because they couldn't speak English. Scalpers prevent those who are actually need a phone/want one and they just take the phone back to their country and flip them for profit. Bugs me.

 

[Aidy06]

The guy in the glasses giving you the finger though in the 7th photo...

 

[MultiMediaWill]

Great pics but I think you forgot to state your point that you started in the thread title. What exactly do you see as 'sad'? Is it the nationality of the line or is it the garbage on the ground, or what?

 

[WannaApple?]

I feel bad for the kids and babies who had to put up with inconsiderate parents that make them sleep on the street at night, but otherwise from your photos and post the only thing that came to mind are 1) people are PIGS! I can't believe they would leave the street looking like that! and 2) you need to be able to speak some sort of english to do business in america. No sympathy at all for those that come here without even attempting to learn the language and expect to be catered to.

 

[indychris]

Is this in chinatown?

You're obviously racist for even noticing that.

Now go to the back of the line!

 

[chasgooses]

Ha, you can see me from behind in one of the pictures of the preorder line. My bald spot seems to be getting worse

That said the preorder line was moving really fast at least when you took the pictures. I started in the back of the preorder line around 7:30 and I was being helped by an employee around 8:15 or so...

 

[budselectjr]

The people waiting in line here resembled more of the typical iPhone user I see around in my West Village neighborhood.

Ok racist.

 

[Wayfarer]

A Foolproof Plan: How to Make Moar Cash Monies

Stand in line to buy iPhone 6 + Resell iPhone 6 + ???????? = PROFIT!!!

 

[sheerin]

I wonder how much the smurfs are getting for standing in line all night?

 

[JoshS]

Almost that whole line look like people working for scalpers. That is NOT an Asian neighborhood and there is another apple store much closer to Chinatown.

The people with the babies are prolly hoping to make some easy money waiting online to bring the phones back to the scalpers.

----------

Ok racist.

Hey Reverend Al: there's nothing racist about it. The west village has very little Asian population. It's an observation and an accurate one at that.

 

[dcorban]

If you hadn't said the city name, I would assume this was in China. Weird.

 

[SetHutBlue42]

Some of those pictures are seriously depressing. I know people say that "experience" of waiting in line on launch day is fun, but this doesn't look like fun to me at all.