So that whole iPhone 4S thing was announced a while ago, and I looked at it and thought “Well, that looks nice, but my phone is only a little over a year old.” But through the magic of financial trickery and economics and selling our old phones, Dan figured out a way that he could get both of us phones for around $100 or so each. The only catch was that I’d have to line up overnight so we could buy two each the morning they were launched. Oy.
On Thursday night, we had a lovely dinner with my father at Sandbar on Granville Island. After we got back home, we almost immediately grabbed our camping chairs, extra socks, gloves, scarves, and my duvet, and headed over to Pacific Centre. There were already about 80-100 people in front of us. Oh good, we’re not the only insane ones.
We arrived around 11:30, and set up camp with the illustrious Stephanie, Brianna, and Brian (although Stephanie was smart enough to go home and sleep, as she didn’t actually want a phone. She DID come back at 6am and bring us delicious lattes. Thank fucking lord.)
It was frigging cold, as expected. Luckily, my duvet is delicious and warm and I may have spent a good portion of the evening curled up into a small pretzel in my camp chair, buried completely under my blanket. (I left an air hole, so I could still breathe. It is hard to breathe flannel.) I may have been utterly terrible company, but given how cold & tired I was, that was probably the nicest thing I could have done.
Surprisingly, the time went pretty fast. One run to Tim Hortons, one to A&W (for their bathroom), and a great deal of half dozing in a little ball… it wasn’t bad.
At 3am, a rollerblading guitar playing singer happened by. And, to be honest, he was INCREDIBLE. Seriously, I can’t rollerblade, play guitar, OR sing, nevermind all three at once. The only catch was that he was standing two feet away from me singing INCREDIBLY LOUDLY while I was trying desperately to nap. He then proceeded to get shirty about the fact that we didn’t want to give him any money for it. Hey, you know what? Yeah, you got talent, but pick your friggin audience. And go away, please.
The Apple Store did a darn good job. Around 6am, they came out and started chatting with us with how things would work. Blenz even went down the line giving out free tea & coffee. And since the city garbage cans were removed in anticipation of Occupy Vancouver, Apple walked down the line with garbage bags, too. And occasionally cheering and whooping at us. Uh. Thanks, guys!
So we got our phones, and went home so that I could sleep since I had to work at 3:30. Until 11:30. And then be back at work for 7:30 the next morning. Jesus christ. If I hadn’t already gotten a free iPhone out of the deal, Dan would owe me BIG TIME.
Enough about that: The iPhone 4S! Holy crap, Siri is awesome. I was looking forward to the faster processor and the better camera, but Siri is totally awesome and better than all of that. The first use I had for it was when I got my phone setup, collapsed into a pile in bed, and told my phone to “wake me up at 1pm”. And it set the alarm for me. Sweet. But that’s only the tip of the ice berg. It googles for me, it sets up reminders, it looks up all sorts of awesome facts… and it’s even funny and witty and amusing.
Even if the bitch did turn me down.
Downside: While using it, the battery does drain considerably faster. Also… actually… nope, that’s pretty much it. Huh.
I love my new phone. Totally worth lining up for 9.5 hours in the freezing cold and having two days of utter exhaustion in exchange for a free iPhone with Siri. Yay!