“Almost lost in the crowd were nine brave souls lined up against a plaza wall and guarded by young men in Apple T-shirts,” Elmer-DeWitt reports. “They were here to buy the iPad — the tablet computer that was to go on sale in 18 hours — and they were settling in for the night.”
Elmer-DeWitt reports, “They ranged in age from 7 to 47 and came from as near as Brooklyn and as far away as Germany. One is a grandmother, several are students, one is what you might call a professional line sitter.”
Number 1: Greg Packer, 47, a highway maintenance worker from Huntington, Long Island, who has made a hobby of giving “man on the street” interviews to the press, which he does by attending events that attract journalists and being first in line. He was first to buy the original iPhone, first to sign the condolence book at the British consulate when Princess Diana died, first in line for Bill Clinton’s book signing, and first in line for the inauguration of George W. Bush, for which he slept outside in the snow. According to his Wikipedia entry, he’s been quoted more than 100 times and photographed at least 16 times by the Associated Press, 14 times by Newsday, 13 times by the New York Daily News and 12 times by the New York Post. In 2003 the AP issued a memo that read, in part: “The world is full of all kinds of interesting people. One of them is Greg Packer of Huntington, N.Y., who apparently lives to get his name on the AP wire and in other media. … Mr. Packer is clearly eager to be quoted. Let’s be eager, too — to find other people to quote.”
The line grew.
Full article with photos here.
I guess you have to be good at something. He can wait in line… Will he even buy an iPad? I wonder if they will even let him in if he doesn’t! HAHA
btw. First Post!
I waited all night to be first
he needs to get a life. Is he there to buy and ipad or just for the publicity
He needs to get an iPad!
sounds like Greg needs to get a life and quit trying to be important in his unimportant life! Highway maintenance worker? More like the guy who picks up trash when the convicts are on vacation!
Quote from Gregs mind….
“I am a loser!”, Greg Packer
Many average people would consider someone who sits staring at a website like MacDailyNews on a computer a “loser”. It’s all a matter of perspective.
Greg needs to get a girlfriend, not an iPad….
Looks to me like the real loser is raze2001
Slimeball.
@ raze2001: really…”convicts on vacation”??? which prison system is that?
Maybe he wants an iPad for waiting in future lines…
Greg does have a life and it sounds like he’s enjoying it.
Whatever floats your boat, man.
Wow! Americans looking down at Highway Maintenance workers.
Maybe you ought to look a little more carefully to find that Applecare Support staff are paid below their wage.