A Survival Guide for iDay

Honey Rand, an executive for an environmental PR firm in Tampa, Fla., really really wants to have an iPhone in her hands come this Friday. So she's sending an intern to stand in line all day at the local Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) store.

Her boyfriend, meanwhile, has been recruited to stake out the AT&T (NYSE: T) store that day. As for Rand? She'll be on location at the nearest bar waiting for word from one of the two.

"As soon as I get the call that we have one, I'm ordering," she tells MacNewsWorld.

The Game Plan

Rand has the right idea, says Scott Bourne, host of The Apple Phone Show at Podango.com.

"If you are determined to get an iPhone on Friday, you have to adopt a multipronged approach," he tells MacNewsWorld.

Bourne, who has been reporting on the advent of the iPhone for the last several months, knows what he is talking about. On the big day, he expects to have his own gadget one way or another.

Unlike Rand, though, Bourne has several staff members lined up to take strategic positions at San Francisco's iconic Apple store, along with television cameras and the accoutrements necessary to start podcasting live when the doors open at 6 p.m.

"We are not disclosing all of our strategies," he says. "I will tell you we have identified all the ingress and egress features of the store in anticipation."

It is also possible that Apple will give Bourne his own phone, which would be something of an anticlimax, given his preparations.

Take a Friend or ... Anybody

For those who do not have a conduit to Apple's marketing juggernaut, Bourne offers the following tips to realizing the iPhone dream on Friday:

• Take Two. Rand has it right, he says. "You are going to need at least two people for every phone you want to procure on Friday -- one at the Apple store and one at AT&T." And by AT&T he means AT&T. "The Cingular-branded outlets are not carrying the iPhone on Friday," he warned.
• Rent a Friend. A cottage industry of "stand in liners" has sprung up overnight, it seems. People are offering their waiting services on Craigslist and eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY) for as much as US$122, Bourne says.

Safe Queueing

• Find out what the store's policy will be regarding lines. Some cities do not permit camping out, Bourne observed. In such cases, armbands are distributed so people can line up at 6 p.m. in the order in which they originally arrived. Some stores have decided to hand out arm bands even if camping out is permissible, just to eliminate the crowd factor.
• Bring cash or an Apple gift card for the amount of the iPhone plus tax. There will be a huge crush, obviously, and no one wants to suffer the agony of getting to the front of the line only to have the credit card declined or otherwise fail to work when it comes time to pay. It won't just be AT&T and Apple staffers who will be short-tempered if there is some kind of glitch, Bourne warned. "Given the potential for an unruly mob, the guy behind you is just as apt to be pressuring the line to move."
• Think about safety if you do line up. "This is a no-brainer both coming and going," Bourne said. Before the sales start, muggers will be looking for candidates with pockets of cash. People leaving the store might be targeted for their iPhones. If you think the latter scenario is far fetched consider this: "We have heard a rumor -- a credible one from what we can tell -- that in San Francisco, an armored car will be delivering the iPhones to the Apple store," Bourne said.

The Easy Way?

• Consider the Apple Web site. If you don't mind waiting a few days for delivery, there is an excellent chance that placing an order at 6 p.m. on Friday will net you a phone by the following week, Bourne said.