The Long Line
December 9, 2003 9:20 AM Subscribe
so, it's a long line. a really long line of people.
in a video.
riiiiiight.
posted by triv at 9:36 AM on December 9, 2003
in a video.
riiiiiight.
posted by triv at 9:36 AM on December 9, 2003
It doesn't strike me as a lot of people -- just a poor way to organize a line. Why not have it snake back and forth and close down an entire sidewalk or two?
posted by jennak at 9:36 AM on December 9, 2003
posted by jennak at 9:36 AM on December 9, 2003
jennark - because it would then block use of the sidewalk to any people who are smart enough not to stand in an incredibly long pointless line.
I can't see any logic in waiting in line for the people who are a bock away or more, personally.
posted by re_verse at 9:38 AM on December 9, 2003
I can't see any logic in waiting in line for the people who are a bock away or more, personally.
posted by re_verse at 9:38 AM on December 9, 2003
Antipixel had nice commentary and photos, and one of the comments mentions a 9MB MPEG4 of the inside of the store.
posted by kirkaracha at 9:44 AM on December 9, 2003
posted by kirkaracha at 9:44 AM on December 9, 2003
jennark - because it would then block use of the sidewalk to any people who are smart enough not to stand in an incredibly long pointless line.
I realize that (hence why I said to close "an entire sidewalk or two"), but it's not like people wouldn't be able to cross to the other side of the street and get by. It seems like it would require less police presence as well.
Also, I'm not from Arkansas. ;)
posted by jennak at 9:56 AM on December 9, 2003
I realize that (hence why I said to close "an entire sidewalk or two"), but it's not like people wouldn't be able to cross to the other side of the street and get by. It seems like it would require less police presence as well.
Also, I'm not from Arkansas. ;)
posted by jennak at 9:56 AM on December 9, 2003
Why not have it snake back and forth and close down an entire sidewalk or two?
Having stood in many lengthy lines (mostly at film festivals), I'd say they did a superb job at organizing the line. The reason you wouldn't snake back and forth is you'd restrict access to the sidewalk and entrance to other stores. A sure way for Apple, as a new tenant, to piss off its neighbours.
On preview:
it's not like people wouldn't be able to cross to the other side of the street
The people crossing would be pissed off, and rightly so.
The fact that there were professionally made signs that read "End of Line" leads me to believe that Tokyo has a big line-up culture. Still, that line is insane.
posted by dobbs at 10:00 AM on December 9, 2003
Having stood in many lengthy lines (mostly at film festivals), I'd say they did a superb job at organizing the line. The reason you wouldn't snake back and forth is you'd restrict access to the sidewalk and entrance to other stores. A sure way for Apple, as a new tenant, to piss off its neighbours.
On preview:
it's not like people wouldn't be able to cross to the other side of the street
The people crossing would be pissed off, and rightly so.
The fact that there were professionally made signs that read "End of Line" leads me to believe that Tokyo has a big line-up culture. Still, that line is insane.
posted by dobbs at 10:00 AM on December 9, 2003
HHHAHAAHAA!!!
stupid japanese....
oh, wait....i'm japanese
posted by taumeson at 10:02 AM on December 9, 2003
stupid japanese....
oh, wait....i'm japanese
posted by taumeson at 10:02 AM on December 9, 2003
Seems to me that's not all that out of the ordinary. Where's the video of a subway train at rush hour?
Or the train all those people got back on after the show?
posted by hama7 at 10:03 AM on December 9, 2003
Or the train all those people got back on after the show?
posted by hama7 at 10:03 AM on December 9, 2003
Is this common in Japan? Mean common not as an everyday thing. Common when something new is available for viewing/showing.
posted by thomcatspike at 10:04 AM on December 9, 2003
posted by thomcatspike at 10:04 AM on December 9, 2003
At least they're not trampling one another for a $29 DVD player.
posted by ubermesh at 10:14 AM on December 9, 2003
posted by ubermesh at 10:14 AM on December 9, 2003
But what did they just put in the water? Is that the first retail store in Japan? Is some piece of Mac technology available in Japanese for the first time? Did Apple make a commercial featuring a raccoon with gigantic testicles?
posted by badstone at 10:21 AM on December 9, 2003
posted by badstone at 10:21 AM on December 9, 2003
I love Macs, but I would never wait in line, any line, to get into an Apple Store. Unless they were giving away a free Mac for lining up. Apple Stores are fun to hang out in when you've got time to kill, but ultimately they're just a white-walled store with some computers.
posted by neuroshred at 10:29 AM on December 9, 2003
posted by neuroshred at 10:29 AM on December 9, 2003
"At least they're not trampling one another for a $29 DVD player."
Do you mean claiming to have been trampled for a $29 DVD player? 'Cause that's a little different.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 10:38 AM on December 9, 2003
Do you mean claiming to have been trampled for a $29 DVD player? 'Cause that's a little different.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 10:38 AM on December 9, 2003
Hey Crash, she's got a dream! She wants to get rich by faking her own injuries and forcing big corporations to pay her to shush up. I bet she would have taken Walmart dollars instead of cash.
As for waiting in line to get into an Apple Store, I don't know why anyone would do it either.
posted by fenriq at 10:56 AM on December 9, 2003
As for waiting in line to get into an Apple Store, I don't know why anyone would do it either.
posted by fenriq at 10:56 AM on December 9, 2003
That is a classic rave line... err... without the ravers... and at an Apple store... ahh... nevermind.
posted by LoopSouth at 11:15 AM on December 9, 2003
posted by LoopSouth at 11:15 AM on December 9, 2003
Perhaps they were all waiting in line to see the first electronics store or kiosk in Japan that doesn't offer some type of portable/cellular phone for sale. How novel!
I, on the other hand, walked into an Apple store last night while waiting for my pizza from Round Table, sauntered past two whole customers, giggled at the employee who had never heard of Halo, and ended up walking out with a 40GB iPod. What is Apple putting in our water?
posted by robbie01 at 11:20 AM on December 9, 2003
I, on the other hand, walked into an Apple store last night while waiting for my pizza from Round Table, sauntered past two whole customers, giggled at the employee who had never heard of Halo, and ended up walking out with a 40GB iPod. What is Apple putting in our water?
posted by robbie01 at 11:20 AM on December 9, 2003
i am more surprised that the guy robbie01 mentioned didn't know about Halo, then i am about the line.
i imagine that a lot of grand openings for popular overseas stores are welcomed with such lines at japan.
posted by lotsofno at 11:38 AM on December 9, 2003
i imagine that a lot of grand openings for popular overseas stores are welcomed with such lines at japan.
posted by lotsofno at 11:38 AM on December 9, 2003
Yeh, I stopped caring about a quarter of the way through. Anything special happen? Or does the line just end?
posted by Orange Goblin at 11:48 AM on December 9, 2003
posted by Orange Goblin at 11:48 AM on December 9, 2003
I have yet to experience anything in life that would be worth standing in a line more than 2 or 3 people long.
posted by yesster at 11:58 AM on December 9, 2003
posted by yesster at 11:58 AM on December 9, 2003
Don't they get trained from birth to stand in lines?
posted by Samizdata at 11:58 AM on December 9, 2003
posted by Samizdata at 11:58 AM on December 9, 2003
neuroshred: "Unless they were giving away a free Mac for lining up."
You are spot-on—possibly without realising so—neuroshred. At these Apple store events they frequently give away iPods, etc, in order to get people to show up... and potentially buy something while they are there.
posted by terrapin at 12:12 PM on December 9, 2003
You are spot-on—possibly without realising so—neuroshred. At these Apple store events they frequently give away iPods, etc, in order to get people to show up... and potentially buy something while they are there.
posted by terrapin at 12:12 PM on December 9, 2003
Is this the line to see Bob Harris?
"I need mysterious face... Sina-Tora. You know Lat Pack?"
"...Sinatra... Ole Blue Eyes... ring a ding ding."
posted by matteo at 12:15 PM on December 9, 2003
"I need mysterious face... Sina-Tora. You know Lat Pack?"
"...Sinatra... Ole Blue Eyes... ring a ding ding."
posted by matteo at 12:15 PM on December 9, 2003
Orange Goblin, yes the line just ends... about 3 times further than where you watched to.
What's Halo?
posted by dobbs at 12:16 PM on December 9, 2003
What's Halo?
posted by dobbs at 12:16 PM on December 9, 2003
Bah. Try Cedar Point on a holiday weekend.
"From this point on you have 85 years to the ride."
posted by Yossarian at 12:48 PM on December 9, 2003
"From this point on you have 85 years to the ride."
posted by Yossarian at 12:48 PM on December 9, 2003
Halo is a not very good game that people think is very good. Came out on Xbox when the console was released, and on PC more recently.
posted by Orange Goblin at 1:03 PM on December 9, 2003
posted by Orange Goblin at 1:03 PM on December 9, 2003
When I can buy a Radeon 9800Xt, install it myself without removing warranty, and having near-seamless driver installation that will natively support my games, then I will have some gamers respect for Apple.
Apples are good for two things: Looking really nice, and video editing. Everything else is well taken care of with a build-your-own pc. I used to work for Adobe, and Premier CS can do insane things on a PC that is relatively on par with a Macintosh's video editing capabilities. If your running a 3.2Ghz Hyperthreading P4 with Dual channel ram you will get amazing speed with a PC thats cheaper than a less-equipped Apple.
Oh, yeah. That's a lot of people. Damn.
posted by Keyser Soze at 1:21 PM on December 9, 2003
Apples are good for two things: Looking really nice, and video editing. Everything else is well taken care of with a build-your-own pc. I used to work for Adobe, and Premier CS can do insane things on a PC that is relatively on par with a Macintosh's video editing capabilities. If your running a 3.2Ghz Hyperthreading P4 with Dual channel ram you will get amazing speed with a PC thats cheaper than a less-equipped Apple.
Oh, yeah. That's a lot of people. Damn.
posted by Keyser Soze at 1:21 PM on December 9, 2003
Japan: wacky and well organized!
posted by Dick Paris at 1:25 PM on December 9, 2003
posted by Dick Paris at 1:25 PM on December 9, 2003
Looks like exclusive club in notable city.
posted by the fire you left me at 1:39 PM on December 9, 2003
posted by the fire you left me at 1:39 PM on December 9, 2003
I've never been able to wait in lines. When I was a kid and my family went to Disney I didn't go on a single ride, they just didn't seem worth the wait. I was only about 10 at the time, but I'd already figured out that those lines looped around and were many times longer than they looked, and knew that nothing was worth waiting in a long line in the Florida sun for more than about thirty seconds.
posted by Grod at 3:14 PM on December 9, 2003
posted by Grod at 3:14 PM on December 9, 2003
What seems remarkable is the lack of people looking at the camera or waving - good place to shoot a guerilla film then.
posted by meech at 3:35 PM on December 9, 2003
posted by meech at 3:35 PM on December 9, 2003
Ya don't see people line up like that to get some Linux product.....only to get that Good Ole BSD product.
posted by rough ashlar at 3:53 PM on December 9, 2003
posted by rough ashlar at 3:53 PM on December 9, 2003
"Halo is a not very good game that people think is very good." --Orange Goblin
YES! Thank you, I was beginning to think I was insane.
posted by kevspace at 5:10 PM on December 9, 2003
YES! Thank you, I was beginning to think I was insane.
posted by kevspace at 5:10 PM on December 9, 2003
the line just ends
It's so much more than that - it's poignant, ironic and also startling. I haven't seen and ending like that in years.
posted by meech at 6:04 PM on December 9, 2003
It's so much more than that - it's poignant, ironic and also startling. I haven't seen and ending like that in years.
posted by meech at 6:04 PM on December 9, 2003
Hmph. Looks like a typical Canadian Boxing Day line. Can never believe the number of people willing to stand out iin the December cold for hours on end, just to get into A&B Sound, Future Shop, or other electronics stores just to grab a cheap TV.
posted by five fresh fish at 6:27 PM on December 9, 2003
posted by five fresh fish at 6:27 PM on December 9, 2003
Are we sure that wasn't just a line for the DMV next to the Apple Store?
posted by fatbobsmith at 9:39 PM on December 9, 2003
posted by fatbobsmith at 9:39 PM on December 9, 2003
five fresh fish: what the hell is boxing day? if it's what i imagined, then i'm damn glad that mike tyson is getting the recognition that he deserves.
posted by joedan at 1:24 AM on December 10, 2003
posted by joedan at 1:24 AM on December 10, 2003
Boxing Day is the day after Christmas. See here for more info. No one really knows why it is called Boxing Day.
posted by Orange Goblin at 2:31 AM on December 10, 2003
posted by Orange Goblin at 2:31 AM on December 10, 2003
My other half and I attended the launch of the Apple Store in Albany NY a while back. Of course, we're both Mac fans and used it as an excuse for a roadtrip! (That and it's pretty well understood that it's almost a snowball's chance in hell that we'll ever see an Apple Store in Canada, never mind Montreal.) I was driving back from Nova Scotia in eastern Canada, stopped by to pick him up in Montreal and continued on to Albany.
I had scouted out online that the mall where it was opening had a "Mall Walker" program, so they opened their doors at some obscene hour like 6am for all the seniors who do their rounds. With this semi-secret knowledge, we arrived very early, hoping to get an early spot in line, only to discover we actually made it first!! Another local couple arrived only 10-15 minutes later; and were rather disappointed to find out they weren't first.
We were prepared for the long wait, I had packed comfy folding chairs and had my Titanium G4 laptop, with which I was even able to log online using my Airport card, as the Apple store was leaving their wireless Airport network open for anyone in range. So I was able to do a live report for "ehMac.ca", an Canadian Mac user group and forum that I frequented to at the time. We were even able to take photos and post them live of the growing line; but it never got longer than a few hundred...
Many others also brought their Apple laptops; I've never seen so many different incarnations and generations of Mac portables in one place!
The manager of the store came out to greet us and was amazed to discover that the two first people in line were Canadians! (I had a Canadian flag draped over the back of my chair...) She even brought out the Apple Regional Director out to meet us; so that she could report back to Steve Jobs how Canadians had come so far and made it first in line.
We got free T-shirts and my other half made the first software purchase in that store. The staff also let me sit behind the "Genius Bar" to be able to log the rest of my live report for "ehMac.ca". All in all, a fun time, we met some great people and it was a neat excuse for a roadtrip. Of course, I am one that wonders at people who wait out overnight in the rain or snow to buy concert tickets -- at least we were indoors, with comfy chairs, a laptop and wireless connection -- now THAT'S the way to wait in line!! (grin)
posted by Jade Dragon at 3:37 AM on December 10, 2003
I had scouted out online that the mall where it was opening had a "Mall Walker" program, so they opened their doors at some obscene hour like 6am for all the seniors who do their rounds. With this semi-secret knowledge, we arrived very early, hoping to get an early spot in line, only to discover we actually made it first!! Another local couple arrived only 10-15 minutes later; and were rather disappointed to find out they weren't first.
We were prepared for the long wait, I had packed comfy folding chairs and had my Titanium G4 laptop, with which I was even able to log online using my Airport card, as the Apple store was leaving their wireless Airport network open for anyone in range. So I was able to do a live report for "ehMac.ca", an Canadian Mac user group and forum that I frequented to at the time. We were even able to take photos and post them live of the growing line; but it never got longer than a few hundred...
Many others also brought their Apple laptops; I've never seen so many different incarnations and generations of Mac portables in one place!
The manager of the store came out to greet us and was amazed to discover that the two first people in line were Canadians! (I had a Canadian flag draped over the back of my chair...) She even brought out the Apple Regional Director out to meet us; so that she could report back to Steve Jobs how Canadians had come so far and made it first in line.
We got free T-shirts and my other half made the first software purchase in that store. The staff also let me sit behind the "Genius Bar" to be able to log the rest of my live report for "ehMac.ca". All in all, a fun time, we met some great people and it was a neat excuse for a roadtrip. Of course, I am one that wonders at people who wait out overnight in the rain or snow to buy concert tickets -- at least we were indoors, with comfy chairs, a laptop and wireless connection -- now THAT'S the way to wait in line!! (grin)
posted by Jade Dragon at 3:37 AM on December 10, 2003
We should just note that Apple traditionally offers discounts of 10 percent on these celebratory days, so though I don't doubt that all these people are Apple fans, I suspect they are also bargaining 10 percent off of a new PowerBook against the time they have to wait in line for it.
posted by Mo Nickels at 6:06 AM on December 10, 2003
posted by Mo Nickels at 6:06 AM on December 10, 2003
Isn't it called Boxing Day because that's the day we're supposed to crush our boxes for recycling?
posted by five fresh fish at 8:51 AM on December 10, 2003
posted by five fresh fish at 8:51 AM on December 10, 2003
No, its cos its the day we give our boxes to the servants, or the day we roll boxes down the hills in a race, or the day on which a boxing match always happens. Like I said, no one knows ;)
posted by Orange Goblin at 10:59 AM on December 10, 2003
posted by Orange Goblin at 10:59 AM on December 10, 2003
The WalMart Woman would enjoy boxing day. She could sue for a small fortune!
posted by five fresh fish at 2:28 PM on December 10, 2003
posted by five fresh fish at 2:28 PM on December 10, 2003
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posted by jennak at 9:34 AM on December 9, 2003