New iPhone Time

It’s that time of year again! When people camp out overnight in line at Apple stores across the country, just so they can be among the first to get their shiny new phone.

I like my gadgets as much as the next guy, but I’m just not willing to go that far for a phone.

Several years back, I have showed up around opening time at stores on launch day to try to get a new iPhone, but it has always been a frustrating experience. Long lines, long wait times, and the anxiety of not knowing if I was going to walk away with a phone, or just walk away.

Perhaps growing older (wiser?) has lessened my patience for this sort of thing. However, I am willing to inconvenience myself a little. Those of you who adore your sleep may think this sounds crazy, but last year I set my alarm for about 2:55 AM on the first morning you could order the iPhone 5S online. They didn’t offer pre-orders of the 5S, only the 5C, so this was launch morning. Orders started at midnight PST, so 2:55 was long enough for me to get to my computer and wake up a little.

Am I crazy? Nope. It took about 10-15 minutes to get it ordered, but then I went right back to sleep, knowing my phone would show up in a week or two.

Aside from the slowness of tens of thousands of people hitting their servers to order their phones all at the same time, it was pretty painless. Part of me wants to say I actually ended up ordering it through the Apple Store app on my iPhone 4S, but I don’t remember for sure. Anyhow, this experience was so simple that I’m planning on ordering this way again this year. Since it is actually a pre-order, it might even show up at my house on launch day. If so, that would be great, but if it arrives a few days later, that’s okay too.

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