Disagree.
It's already staggered in the sense that last year, Apple made the 2.0 software update available on the same day that the iPhone 3G launched. So by making the 3.0 software available BEFORE the iPhone launch this year, they are staggering.
Timezones cause some staggering anyway. IMO, the majority of Apple iPhone customers in the more eastern time zones are not going to stay up until the early morning hours waiting for it to become available. They'll wait until the following morning.
IMO, it's only a small percentage of the overall iPhone owner community that's "dying" to immediately get this software update. I think the vast majority is going to be made aware of this update when their iTunes notifies them, and by default, iTunes only checks once every seven days. So there's even more staggering built in for you.