photo by Ben Hillyer

Ritchie Montgomery admires his new iPhone that he purchased at the AT&T store in Natchez.

Locals join nation waiting in line for phone

By Greg Smith (Contact) | The Natchez Democrat

Published Saturday, June 30, 2007

NATCHEZ — The iPhone hit the streets of Natchez and the nation at 6 p.m. Friday and in Natchez Greg Iles snagged the first one.

“I’m an Apple man,” Iles said. “I write on an Apple and love it, the iPhone has to be as good as the rest of Apple’s equipment.”

Iles bought the 8GB iPhone, which is listed at $599.

“I’m going home to register the phone right now,” Iles said before leaving the store that was quickly becoming packed.

Anxious iPhone-atics were ushered inside 12 at a time to purchase the version of the phone that they wanted.

Jaskrin Singh, 19, wanted the 4GB iPhone so bad she even showed up ahead of time to get in line for the $499 phone.

“I’ve been saving up for it,” Singh said. “I even sold my iPod to my cousin and my PSP to my brother so I could get the phone.”

In order to activate the iPhone it must be registered through iTunes by hooking it up to a computer with an Internet connection. AT&T doesn’t offer insurance on the iPhone however it can be sent to Apple in the unfortunate event that it is damaged or needs repairs.

Although the buzz around the iPhone was frantic nationwide the AT&T store in Natchez had almost as many people waiting for the store to open so they could pay their bill as wanted to purchase the phone.

Robert Lewis and his friend Ryan Graves forecast the less than chaotic scene at the Natchez AT&T store.

“We drove an hour and a half to come here to get the iPhone because we knew the line would be shorter,” Lewis said.

However the lack of Natchez AT&T store employees protected by riot police didn’t diminish the excitement for those who got the phone.

“I was jumping up and down the whole time I was in the store,” Singh said.

“I’m going home to register it so I can use it,” Isle said.

Sue Sperry, spokeswoman for AT&T Mississippi, said she thinks stores will run out of the phones but people will be able to order them right the stores.

“We had a very productive day in Mississippi,’ Sperry said. “AT&T doesn’t disclose the number of iPhones sold or in stock at stores.”

AT&T stores will return to regular business hours Saturday.