As a child, I would read the back of my morning cereal box with relish, looking for the latest offer diabolically imagined by the corporate suits at Kellogs to stimulate continued sales of their cereal line (but I digress). I just loved the marvelous and wonderful toys you could receive for just the price of cereal box tops, which were, in my mind at least, free. I ate cereal every morning and knew that each bowl I consumed would bring me that much closer to ordering and receiving a new magical toy. One such toy I specifically remember was a plastic submarine that would surface and dive with the help of baking powder (not soda, as you would expect, but baking powder) tamped into a little chamber in the underside of the hull. Once I had placed my order (the ritualistic sealing of the envelope, the licking of the stamp, the strategic placement in our mailbox for the mailman to gather and send it on its way), the wait was simply excruciating. "Did it come yet?" I would ask my mother each day as I returned from school. It was frankly difficult to focus on anything else. Nights would be especially difficult for me. The quiet of the night would only amplify my apprehension and anticipation. Had I made a mistake with the number of box tops I had enclosed in the envelope? Had the mailman stolen my package for his own child? It was too painful to recount the various permutations of disaster that occupied my tormented mind. My preoccupation for the arrival of my package was much like the scene in the "The Music Man," where a gathering of people sang jubilantly of their anticipation as they peered down the street awaiting the arrival of the Wells Fargo Wagon. Inwardly, I was one of those singers. This was the song that played over and over in my heart. "Oh, it could be, yes it could be, something special, just for me!" I lived that song for much of my cereal-eating childhood. Such is the world of a young boy.
Four weeks ago, on September 14th at 12:01 A.M. PDT, Apple and its various Cellular Phone partners began taking orders for the newly unveiled iPhone 5. I had been avoiding a purchase of the iPhone since its first iteration was announced, opting instead for the iPod Touch. The iPod Touch simply offered virtually the same level of functionality of the iPhone sans the relatively expensive monthly data plan that accompanied it. Needless to say, I was instantly smitten with the technology proffered by the iPod. It provided access (via Wi-Fi) to the Internet, e-mail, and a plethora of apps, in addition to its native ability to provide the soundtrack to my daily life.
Sadly, after a time, the iPhone began to outstrip the iPod Touch in features. Undoubtedly this was a marketing decision by the powers at Apple. Each iteration of the iPhone widened the gap between itself and its lesser sibling. The iPhone incorporated a camera and more importantly, apps that could simulate some of the artistic "looks" that I worked so hard to create via traditional photographic methods. As an example, the Hipstamatic app provided filters that closely resembled the look of plastic toy cameras, or images taken with infrared film or pinhole cameras. I was annoyed that an artistic venue had been denied me simply because I did not possess the right technology. I anxiously waited for the new iPod Touch to incorporate the same capabilities in its next incarnation. In a fashion it did, only the resolution of the camera was laughable. While the iPhone was offering a built-in 5 megapixel camera, the iPod was offering less than 1-megapixel resolution. The gap between the iPhones and the iPod Touches widened. The difference between the latest incarnation of iPhones and iPod Touches is reported to be already one generation different, owing to the different processors incorporated in each. The iPod Touch camera now it sports 5-megapixel resolution, a noticeable improvement over the previous generation (which I had told myself would be enough to warrant my next purchase), but again lags behind the iPhone 5 which offers a (second-generation) 8-megapixel camera. This was the tipping point for me, coupled with the annoyance of searching endlessly for free Wi-Fi spots in the cities of our travels to access the internet for information. I finally decided to make the leap to the iPhone. I had been reading the cereal boxes long enough regarding the popular smartphone. It was time to commit.
Once resolute in my decision to purchase the "5," I was not rabid about ordering it, unlike cereal-box-top boy of so many years ago. True, I had considered staying up until the designated hour to place my order online, but decided instead that a good night's sleep was more important than the possible three to four week delay it would cost me to wait until the next morning. I had waited for 5 generations of iPhones to place my order, I could easily wait a few more weeks. Eventually, at around 10:00 A.M. the next morning, I accessed AT&T's site to place my order.
That day, the media was overwrought with reports of the frenzy of iPhone orders that accompanied the pre-order opening day. As suspected, the anticipation and fervor immediately outpaced the available supply and all of the websites were reporting 3-4 week delays in deliveries. It was mildly amusing to read the articles about the queues and server difficulties encountered by the onslaught of Apple fanboys (and fangirls). I couldn't help but feel a little superior as I was calm and comfortable with the anticipated delay until I noticed my confirmation e-mail. It stated simply without a hint of irony, that ("Congratulations!") my order would be delivered September 21st! WHAT? Could this be a mistake? Most likely it had to be the result of an automatic reply geared toward the best possible scenario embedded in the AT&T order confirmation response system that would undoubtedly be corrected later in a subsequent e-mail. And yet, when I entered the tracking system, the order stated that not only had it been processed, but that the iPhone had been shipped! How could this be possible? Could I really be one of the first to have the iPhone 5 in my hot little hands? It could potentially be delivered to my door without having to endure three (or more) nights and days of camping out in front of an Apple store? Cereal-box-top-boy was back! Sleepless nights ensued. Each day, I checked the status of my order and to my dismay, there was no tracking number assigned. The tracking number was the designated next step in the process and its absence hinted of a system error that would dash all of my now falsely-raised expectations. I searched the web and found a forum of people who were in the exact circumstance that I faced. They had received a confirmation with the 21st delivery date with no progress in the tracking system beyond "shipped." The general consensus was that it was simply not to be. I cannot calculate the number of times I would check that system in a given day. I became resigned to the fact that I would indeed have to wait for 3-4 weeks prior to receiving my iPhone, a now intolerable waiting period. Resignation grew to depression. Then, on Thursday, at about 9:14 P.M., the evening before the 21st, my tracking number appeared! Clicking on that number revealed that my iPhone had traveled from Fort Worth, Texas to the FedEx distribution center in West Valley City!
As per the tracking status, the iPhone would be delivered to my door no later than 3:00 PM. I called in sick as a signature was required for the iPhone 5 to be delivered and I did not want to jeopardize a first day delivery. I had to run a quick errand first thing that morning and hurriedly set out to quickly return. While I was driving, I spotted several FedEx trucks in the neighborhood prowling the streets no doubt loaded down with iPhone 5s in their cache. I returned home, thankfully with no note of a failed delivery awaiting me. I was confident the wait would not be long and I could go to work having benefited from a miraculous recovery. And so I planted myself on the front porch armed with my newspaper and Kindle Fire to keep me occupied while I occasionally peered down the street feigning indifference. Time passed slowly, but eventually, my particular FedEx truck arrived, clocking in at 2:23 PM. FedEx cannot be accused of "over-promising" on their delivery times. When I interrogated him about his other deliveries of the day, the driver reported that like me, others were outside awaiting their deliveries and that they too, were very, very happy to see him pull up. The next day I read numerous reports of others who recounted their wait outside. And so, it appears on that Friday, September the 21st of 2012, scores of people across the United States paced impatiently outside of their homes while they awaited their own Wells Fargo Wagon and similarly, they waited for it to bring something special, something very, very special just for them.
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