There are very few things that will get me out of bed at 5am: a family tragedy, more than $100,000 in cash, and a new iPhone. Of course, Matt and I were there to cover the launch of the iPhone 5 live, but we weren’t the only early risers yesterday. Thousands of people, including fanboys, brands, and members of the media (not to mention Apple geniuses), were at Apple’s Fifth Ave. flagship store in NYC at the crack of dawn.
Yes, all for a phone.
It was an experience I’ll always remember, even if I wasn’t the one assigned to the iPhone line for 24 hours. (Thanks again, and well done, Romain.) We met plenty of fun iPhone 5 owners-to-be, including Tanvee, a young woman who was waiting in line to buy her husband the new iPhone. She certainly captured the hearts and minds of our #CrunchPhone twitter followers.
We also had a slight run-in with Apple security (who really shouldn’t be trifled with), got ourselves some donuts, and met what could be two FBI agents (or Samsung employees — they refused to inform us of their employer).
All in all, it was a great morning, and we hope you enjoy this quick glance back at the magic.
TechCrunch cameras also showed up at San Francisco’s flagship Apple store and talked to some of the iPhone 5 buyers in the video below.