Tumbleweeds outnumber punters, as iPhone's First Night flops

Journalists and PR minders like us at iVirtua Community (UK) outnumbered buyers onFriday night as interest in Apple's iPhone miserably failed to live upto the pre-launch hype in the UK.

The iPhone went on sale at stores operated by retail titan CarphoneWarehouse, exclusive operator O2, and Apple's own retail chain. Thedays preceding the launch had been filled with pages of coverage fromposh papers and broadsheets alike. O2 announced it was employing 1,400extra staff to cope with the short-term demand. Even Carphone's PRstaff were dispatched to far corners of the land, to provide expertadvice to the masses clamouring for iPhones.
But now it looks as if a tight-knit group of media and PR people gotcaught in a feedback loop. The "event" they imagined simply failed totake place.
The first signs that reality was not following the script came at 7pm, from a Regreader at Brent Cross. Perched by Wembley on the North Circular, BrentCross is a shopping hub reaching into millions of affluent punters inHertfordshire and Oxfordshire, as well as the metropolis itself. Henoted that the Carphone and O2 stores were empty of punters, with only"the usual" smattering of shoppers at the Apple Store, playing withiPods.
Reader Ian Ferguson fought his way to the front of a non-existentqueue at Carphone Warehouse to get his iPhone, he reported in ourcomments on Friday night. He was outnumbered by extra staff trying to"upsell" him insurance and over-priced accessories.
Up in Manchester, it was safe to go to the pub at 5pm, an hour before "launch" then get soaked in the rain.
An hour later, bored staff outnumbered prospective purchasers as the stores stood empty.
"An average Wednesday afternoon", reported AximSite.
Dial-A-Phone's Nick has a gallery of the non-existent iPhone mania that was failing to break out, here.