[willed]

I know there was a thread about this, but people's plans may have changed - mine have. I wouldn't have gone to London just for the store opening, but since a friend who lives there is having his 21st birthday party in London tomorrow night, I figured I may as well make a day of it and visit the store. I won't be queuing up before 10am, but will pop in later on. Who else is going? Maybe we should do something to make us MacNNers identifiable to each other? (Or maybe that's just a bit gay )

[ism]

I'm sure it'd be obvious who the macnn'ers are: Some crazy look behind the eyes. There's a chance I might make it before Christmas, but not to the opening. I kind of don't want to go as I'm afraid I'll spend even more money I don't have

[lil'babykitten]

maaaaaybe.

I suck at making decisions in advance. If I go it will be one of those on the spot 'oh what the hell' type of decision.

[moodymonster]

There's a vid of it here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4023171.stm#

(click the link that says: See inside the new store )

may pop down daytime- not a camping outside fanatic , guess I won't be getting a goody bag.

http://forums.macrumors.com/attachme...chmentid=18947

http://forums.macrumors.com/attachme...chmentid=18946

looks v cool though

[Agasthya]

Originally posted by lil'babykitten:
maaaaaybe.

I suck at making decisions in advance. If I go it will be one of those on the spot 'oh what the hell' type of decision.

That might not work. The lines for the Japanese stores were like a half mile long. You may have to plan this beforehand if you're going

[mdc]

i just landed in london today and i will be going with some friends tomorrow.

no, my london holiday has *nothing* to do with the store opening. i just got some time off and decided to come here. not sure we are going to queue up beforehand.

[willed]

Originally posted by mdc:

no, my london holiday has *nothing* to do with the store opening. i just got some time off and decided to come here. not sure we are going to queue up beforehand.

Hmmm, how convenient.... [/suspicious]

[lil'babykitten]

Originally posted by willed:
Hmmm, how convenient.... [/suspicious]

[Thorin]

I considered going, but the idea of Japanese style 1/4 mile long queues put me off. That and I don't really have the time or money to had down to London for the day. I'll definitley go to the opening of the Birmingham store though.

Just read this:

Stormy Braves Storm to be First in Line

A student from Texas called Stormy Shippy, which may actually be his real name, is camping out on a rainy sidewalk to be first in line for Saturday's grand opening of the new London Apple store.

Shippy set up camp -- in the freezing rain naturally -- sometime on Thursday, according to his online diary, American on Regent St..

The diary is a catalog of endurance, reading like something Captain Scott might have written:

"Time has gone by very, very, slow and I wonder how long I can keep it up," he writes. "If only it would stop raining so I could bring out a book to pass the time. I would like to try and get some sleep tonight."

Later, he says: "This has probably been the longest 30+ hours ever... the weather continually got worse and by the time I made it back to the queue it was raining down hard, wind was blowing faster than ever, and it had begun to thunder."


On Friday, Shippy was joined by someone called Thomas from San Francisco, and Gary Allen of IFOAppleStore and his teenage son Devin, who live in Berkeley.

That's five Americans at the head of the line. The British, naturally, stay out of the rain. The group have set up a chilly camp outside the store.

As usual, Allen has the best coverage of the store opening and some lovely pictures. Just look at this beautiful shot from across Regent Street.

Allen is available via iChatAV (ifoman / devwillyii) and a special e-mail address (london@ifoAppleStore.com). Obviously, they're in desperate need of a Thermos of hot tea and a packet of McVities Milk Chocolate Digestive biscuits.

Did make me chuckle that it was all American's that were queuing up a day in advance in freezing rain.

[lil'babykitten]

I just saw a report..people are actually camping outside overnight for this one. One guy said "yeah it's sad but no sadder than those that camp outside cinemas for their favourite movies". Which is fair enough.

But I don't think I'm gonna even try to get down there. It'll be PACKED. And it's freezing!

[nelliott]

Originally posted by lil'babykitten:
I just saw a report..people are actually camping outside overnight for this one. One guy said "yeah it's sad but no sadder than those that camp outside cinemas for their favourite movies". Which is fair enough.

But I don't think I'm gonna even try to get down there. It'll be PACKED. And it's freezing!

Yeah - I saw that. Crazy!

[Agasthya]

Originally posted by Thorin:
...

AWESOME sig!

Only 7 days before testing

[Thorin]

Originally posted by Agasthya:
AWESOME sig!

Only 7 days before testing

Thanks . Can't wait to see how Webber does for Williams.

I'm still undecided with what I'm going to do with the sig for next year. Not sure whether to just swap the car for next year's McLaren, change it into some sort of Kimi V JPM sig, or go with next year's Williams and Webber's helmet colours.

You're not flying over to the UK for the London Apple Store opening then?

[Chris O'Brien]

I've been seriously considering going for ages, but decided not to the other day :/

The main reason is that I owe one and a half grand in rent, so spending the money to get down there (it's about 70 quid for a return on the train...) and the amount I'd likely spend in the store would likely cripple me. Ah well - I'll probably take a trip during the January sales

Oh. And I expect pictures from those of you that go

[Agasthya]

Originally posted by Thorin:
Thanks . Can't wait to see how Webber does for Williams.

I'm still undecided with what I'm going to do with the sig for next year. Not sure whether to just swap the car for next year's McLaren, change it into some sort of Kimi V JPM sig, or go with next year's Williams and Webber's helmet colours.

You're not flying over to the UK for the London Apple Store opening then?

Heh, I wish I could but I have Apple Training this weekend 'cause we're preparing for the launch of our mini store here in St. Louis

[Diggory Laycock]

Went - saw massive queue - left.

[nath]

Originally posted by Diggory Laycock:
Went - saw massive queue - left.

i walked to the back of the queue where a police officer told me there were 6500 people in front of me. this was at 9am!!!

took this photo of a guy that was kindly taking hot drinks to the crazy folk who had been camping out. 'sabsi' is the name of his coffeeshop i think. nice touch!

[mdc]

Originally posted by Diggory Laycock:
Went - saw massive queue - left.

exactly. got there at about 8:30, saw the queue, went for breakfast.

[lil'babykitten]

The BBC has a story on the opening now.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4028363.stm

Moments later the final countdown begins and Matt joins the first wave to flood into the store. A guard of honour, dressed in black T-shirts, meets the faithful as their big moment finally arrives.

Store manager John O'Grady shouts above the din to declare the store officially open.

He later says he was "welling up" with the emotion of it all.

This, however, could be something to do with the shock of having to move from his beach house in Santa Monica, California, to chilly central London in November.

But he insists the event marks the pinnacle of his career, and even confesses to be enjoying the chance to wear winter clothing.

[Diggory Laycock]

Here's a pic:



So did anyone actually go in?

[B_2]

Hi guys i just got back from the london store. We got there at 1 p.m. had to wait in a queue (raining) for about 20mins before entering.

It is amazing everything was on display got to see the new iMacs in the flesh but the Powermacs look way better. The 30" cinema display is something else,

Off to get a cup of tea.

[Komisar]

Wow thats alot fo people... what was the talk of this halloween ipod?

[Krypton]

I went!

Queued for 25 min after getting there around 12.00 midday, queue moved quite quickly - they were only letting people in as people left the store. They had everything on display, including a lot of iPod photos and U2 editions.

Managed to get a go on a dual 2.5Ghz, but it seemed really bogged down for some reason (as did most of the machines). It might have been because they were networked together and had all the pro apps open, but I was slightly underwhelmed by the speed (I have an iMac DV).

However, the glass staircase was fantastic!

[SamuraiDL]

the apple stores are more attractive in other countries.

[lil'babykitten]

What happens when those glass staircases get wet from people who have just come in from the rain?

Ow.

[Krypton]

Originally posted by lil'babykitten:
What happens when those glass staircases get wet from people who have just come in from the rain?

Ow.

There was a man whose job it was to wipe the stairs with a tissue. Seriously

[IanChar]

I went there today. When i joined the queue was pretty long but i stuck it out. When i got in i was "WOW"
Didnt buy much, just a England Flag iPod case (apprently 1000 have been made)

[lil'babykitten]

Originally posted by Krypton:
There was a man whose job it was to wipe the stairs with a tissue. Seriously

hahaha!

Where are the pix, people? Don't make me have to go down there just to get pix!

[as2]

Ok, so I was one of the people who got there at around 11pm last night, was about 270th in the queue when I got there, so decided to camp out (in a cardboard box!)
When they opened the doors this morning, i was miracuously 350th in the queue, so was mighty pissed off when I didn't get a goody bag.

People were queue jumping, and the security generally did nothing about it, and I was also pretty pissed off to see people turning up at 9.30, and going in throuhgh the staff entrance, only to leave at 10.00 with a goody bag.

They should have had some form of ticketing like they do for wimbledon, cus it was a complete joke. Queue for almost 12 hours, to then be told some shmuck who turned up at 9.30 and bought a goody bag for himself, his wife, and his two 6 year old kids means there are no gody bags left.

RAGE!

[hagheid]

Originally posted by as2:
[B so was mighty pissed off when I didn't get a goody bag.


RAGE! [/B]

This bag was left unclaimed

[Busemann]

Originally posted by ism:
I'm sure it'd be obvious who the macnn'ers are:

[Angus_D]

I went by at about 7:30pm and was distinctly unimpressed. It's just a white box with shiny computers in it.

And to think people were camping out for 2 freaking DAYS! GET A LIFE!

[benign]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4023171.stm#

Ron Johnson told the BBC that Apple constantly monitored prices on both side of the Atlantic, but he couldn't offer a reason why the price difference was so great.

off camera he remarked "Because brits enjoy to be taken up the *** by a yank, they love it."

[hagheid]

Originally posted by benign:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4023171.stm#
off camera he remarked "Because brits enjoy to be taken up the *** by a yank, they love it."

How out of character!! This is the same fat greeedy bstad who.........
"reportedly purchased the 300,000 shares of Apple stock on Oct. 28 for $18.59 and immediately dumped them at a market value of $50.5875 a share, taking home a pre-tax profit of $9,626,250.00, according to a a filing made Monday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission."

[ism]

Originally posted by Busemann:

See!?

[MilkmanDan]

What was in the goodie bags this time around?

[MilkmanDan]

Originally posted by Thorin:
I considered going, but the idea of Japanese style 1/4 mile long queues put me off.

The line is a fun time here in Japan. They really know how to party down with lots of drinks and lots of food. Though I must say it was really warm and there was no rain. Sadly, the line was only a bit over 3000 people that day. Who would have thought the british would outdo the Japanese for a computer store grand opening. (Osaka Apple Store, Osaka Japan.)

[Komisar]

What are these special edition ipods people are talking about?

[hagheid]

One born every minute!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...53518&rd=1

[Nivag]

Originally posted by hagheid:
One born every minute!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...53518&rd=1

check the questions from other buyers, it's an empty bag!!!

[hagheid]

Originally posted by Nivag:
check the questions from other buyers, it's an empty bag!!!

Yes,Goodiless, that was one of my points. BUT!!! the collector value!!!!
Full of London air & a wonderful T-Shirt!!! which incidentally will be going for about £8 next year on eb(R)ay

[bells0]

The only good thing that has come out of the store opening for me [as i live 200 miles away and can't stand the stinkin hole we call a capital] is that there will be a shed load of .mac boxes sold on ebay from the goody bags, so a cheap renewal for me this year

[hagheid]

Originally posted by bells0:
The only good thing that has come out of the store opening for me [as i live 200 miles away and can't stand the stinkin hole we call a capital] is that there will be a shed load of .mac boxes sold on ebay from the goody bags, so a cheap renewal for me this year

Yer RIGHT there!!
Only prob. is that they'll be EMPTY!!

[Nivag]

does anyone know what was in the bag?

[billybob128]

from what i have read the lucky bags were each differant.

i was planning on going but couldnt make it in the end. will be at the bullring opening tho for definate

[Nivag]

in Bullseye style, i've found what could of been in the bag...

5. The Lucky Bags may contain a selection of the following items in any combination: Airport Express, Wireless Mouse, Wireless Keyboard, D-Link, Keynote, .Mac, iLife, iSight Camera, 20GB iPod, Silver iPod Mini, JBL on Tour, GarageBand Jam Pack, Limited Edition iPod Case, Limited Edition iPod Mini Case, ProCare, 10% off coupon, Insider’s Guide to London DVD or a World Book Encyclopedia.

http://www.apple.com/uk/retail/regen.../luckybag.html

[iMacfan]

To set the story straight, here was what was in my lucky bag:

iSight
Airport Express
D-Link bluetooth adaptor
Wireless Mouse
Wireless Keyboard
Keynote
iLife '04
.Mac
GarageBand JamPack1
WorldBook Encyclopaedia
DVD guide to London (Really useful - I LIVE here!)
Procare
10% Off Card

I think that's it!

Any way, as I didn't have anything on the list beforehand apart from built in BT and iLife, I'm pretty impressed, and well worth 17.5 hrs wait

Also, I was in the queue on BBC News at Ten, so I got to be a minor celebrity!

David

[billybob128]

Busemann? are these people acctual nn'ers soz but i just cant remember seein any on the official nn'ers thread

[SamuraiDL]

does anyone find the foreign apple stores more attractive then the ones in the states?