I'm 23rd in line at the Bellevue Apple store for an iPhone. I wasn't sure I was going to be here just a few weeks ago, seeing as it was a lot to pay for just a mobile phone. The iPod features won't change the fact I'm having a better time with the device and subscription service I have now with Zune. But then I realized that this would be a full web browser taken with you anywhere and I was sold.

The first guy in line here got here at 5pm yesterday. Anyway a guy just came by and asked what line this was. Someone piped up: "this is the line for Ratatouille." This is going to be a fun day.

Update 10:02am: They handed us all Smart Water at about 9:15am. Very nice of them. There seems to be someone who's job is just to talk to us and make sure we have a good time. The woman just said she's going to get us some coffee. Cool. There are 49 people in line right now.

Update 11:57am: Free coffee from Starbucks is here. They're also letting people in line use the backroom restroom in the Apple store. Someone also strung out an extension cord, but there's only three plugs. I'm gonna have to fight for one of those later. The Starbucks girl to #4 and #5 in line: "how long have you guys been here??". Them: "Five PM yesterday." She's like: "For a phone??! A phone! Really?" #4 and #5 are highschool kids, why is she flipping her hair and flirting with them?

Update 2:36pm: The black curtains have come up, and the store is closed. Looks like they're going to revamp the store interior in the next four hours.

Update 5:27pm: They took down one of the curtains, revealing the iPhone doing a countdown until the store opens. Ridiculous how much effort they put into this launch. I feel like we're in line for the cure for cancer or something, the hype is in almost stupid levels that I'm kinda not digging this anymore.

Epilogue: They let us in 15 people at a time. They had 10 people just standing in the front of the store, cheering and high-fiving every customer as they walked into the Apple store. I purchased my iPhone without incident and left. I've been playing with it ever since. It's true that the weakest point for the iPhone is the slow AT&T network, but it is a great device otherwise. There are other flaws with it, but nothing so major that made me feel this wasn't a revolutionary product. Kudos, Apple.