Hundreds buy into launch of iPhone

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As the first to receive Apple's highly anticipated iPhone at Kahala Mall last night, Ross Stewart high-fived employees as dozens cheered him on. After 13 hours of waiting, he paid $627 for the phone with $20 bills and walked out like a star.

"I want a phone that works, that's not clunky, one that I'm proud to carry around," Stewart said. "It's an iPod, it's a laptop. It's everything. I bet it can cook breakfast if you leave it in the kitchen."

Hundreds of Hawaii residents, some who waited since the early morning, rushed to Apple and AT&T stores as the iPhones finally hit the market last night.

Many are Apple freaks. Others want to show off. Some planned to resell it at a profit. All said it was worth the wait.

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Edward Paul, 34, of Honolulu confessed that he hid in the stairwell at Ala Moana Center at 4:22 a.m. to stake out the first spot in line for an iPhone at the Apple Store yesterday.

He had tried to camp out starting at 11:20 p.m. on Thursday, but security kicked him out.

"I wanted to make sure I got one," said Paul, an Apple fanatic who works at PixiNet. "I've been researching this for the past six months, and this is exactly what I've been waiting for -- it consolidates your laptop, cell phone and iPod."

The iPhones, which retail for $499 for a 4-gigabyte model and $599 for an 8-gigabyte model, went on sale at 6 p.m. yesterday at Honolulu's two Apple retail stores and the state's 16 AT&T stores.

At Apple's Kahala store, employees banged on the gates right before the 6 p.m. opening. Shoppers could hear cheers and whoops from behind a black curtain. They counted down like it was New Year's Eve and then the buying frenzy began.

The iPhones can only be used with an AT&T plan, which costs $60 to $100 a month for a minimum of two years.

Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple Inc. did not disclose how many were stocked in Hawaii, but customers can still order them online or at any of the stores and AT&T outlets.

At Kahala Mall, Ross Stewart, 30, of Waikiki walked in at 5 a.m. He went to Starbucks first, and then the Apple store, where stanchions had been set up for early buyers.

Immediately after buying the phone, Stewart went to Starbucks again to activate it using his MacBook Pro.

"For a long time, I've wanted a phone that works like this," said Stewart, "one that's not frustrating and that I don't want to toss into the Ala Wai." He picked up odd jobs recently to spring for the $600 phone.

He switched from Sprint to AT&T a week ago so he could use the iPhone, but said he didn't mind.

"Every Apple product exceeds expectations," he said.

Annette Marie of Kaimuki paid high school students Brittne and Amber Au $200 each, and another person $300, to stand in line at Kahala for more than 12 hours. In total, Marie bought four iPhones and spent more than $3,000.

"And I would do it again," she said happily.

Jessica Kim-Campuspos bought a necklace while she waited for her husband, Ryan Campuspos, to buy an iPhone. She cheered as he came out holding two iPhones and took photos of the moment.

"The other night, I was holding my 8-month-old son in front of the TV as an iPhone commercial came on," Kim-Campuspos said. "I said, 'Take a look, Dylan, this is what is going to take our father from us.' "

Purchases were limited to one per person at AT&T stores, and two per person at Apple stores.

Liam Ball, another Apple fan, flew to Honolulu from Maui to join the hype at the Apple store at Ala Moana Center. He was paying with his credit card.

"They have consistently developed products that are leaps and bounds ahead of the competitors in terms of intelligent and beautiful design and ease of use," he said.

Apparently, some of the folks waiting in line had a bad case of the iFlu, which required that they take the day off from work.

Robert Reisenwitz, president of Support Data Inc., gave himself the day off to sit at Ala Moana Center, which he thought was less risky than going to the AT&T store in Mililani. He had his laptop, a beach chair, some snacks and water.

With an iPhone, he said, he wouldn't have to carry both a PDA and cell phone.

While waiting in line, Lisa Fujimura said she couldn't wait to get an iPhone to replace her smartphone so she could download iTunes.

"It's just so much better than every other phone," said Fujimura. "You could put an 'i' in front of any product and it's suddenly cooler."