Jonny Gladwell, a 22-year-old student from Auckland became the first person in the world to purchase the iPhone 3G after staying in queue for three nights in freezing temperatures.
When it ticked one minute past midnight in Auckland, New Zealand, Jonny Gladwell became the first proud
owner of iPhone 3G. He braved freezing temperatures outside a Vodafone store to claim his moment in the spotlight.
Gladwell spent the long hours by writing the experiences in the queue
in his personal blog.
On the first night, he wrote:
First in the queue. all going to plan I'll be the first in the world to get the new iPhone.
He wrote just four hours before launch:
I have mixed emotions at the moment, half of me can't wait to get the phone, and the other half just wants to get some sleep. Although I've come this far, there is no pulling out now.
After he got a first hand on the iPhone 3G, he seemed to be the happiest person in the world
I'm going to put this on charge, have a play around with it and have a nice long sleep
The iPhone frenzy had started across the world months before the official launch.
As you can see in the attached video, the media went crazy snapping pics and video of Gladwell leaving the store.
In United Kingdom, operator O2 had to temporarily shut down the servers as the requests for new phones peaked at 10,000 per second. In New York, environmental activists are trying to get the media attention by queuing up outside the stores one week before the launch.
