Waiting in Line for an iPhone 4S? Forget It, Just Buy a Spot

The iPhone 4S made its nationwide debut on Friday morning at 8AM when Apple's doors opened. Here in San Francisco's downtown Stockton location, eager buyers came out as early as 4PM on Thursday evening. That is some dedication, but, wait, you don't have to be the dedicated one. What may sound even more preposterous is that you can instead buy your spot in line if you don't want to wait. That is, if you make a high enough offer, anyway.

With the 4S pre-orders completely sold out, people that won't be getting theirs in the mail have to head to Apple stores to buy one. All over popular classifieds site Craigslist, people are listing their service of standing in line for you for sale. Everything from $25 and up to make-me-a-generous-offer, you can purchase your spot in line to avoid beating the crowd. All you have to do yourself is come moments before opening to trade spots, pay them for their service, and get your iPhone. Simple enough.

At 10AM Friday, a walk into the store brought employees flocking to your left and right in their crisp blue Apple logo tees. Although the store itself was surprisingly calm for a major release, many came over out of curiosity to get a first look at the 4S.

One window-shopper currently sporting a six-year-old slide-out LG smartphone came in to see the 4S in person. She's thinking of getting a smartphone now but decided right before the 4S announcement, so it made sense to hold off and consider the 4S. After testing out the assistant feature Siri, she finds that she wasn't the most impressed. It was actually pretty cool. I like how it actually understood what I was saying, [but] for the next one, I hope it's a little bit more advanced...[instead] of just [giving] me a website, she says.

Several others browsing around also said they mainly wanted to see Siri in action today. But in the end, we're speaking into an electronic device, not to a human that's capable of cognition and emotion. Nonetheless, voice recognition technology is definitely being further developed, and Apple's on the forefront with Siri right now.

It's still hard to gauge how the 4S will be received by consumers, but judging from pre-order sales, it certainly remains the top smartphone competitor in today's market. And, if you were debating on whether to drive down and join the wait in line, at least it's comforting to know Apple's giving out bread and water to make this an enjoyable experience for you--all the way.