Hundreds stand in Naperville line for 'Swiss Army knife of phones'

There were two lines on opposite sides of the entrance to the Apple Store location this morning in downtown Naperville.

The longer of the two lines comprised people who preordered the new iPhone 4. The shorter line had people who were hoping to get lucky and get a phone without preordering.

Near the back of the second line, Scott Collins was blaming himself for not showing up earlier. He's hoping to replace his first generation iPhone.

"It's got a lot of features," said the 30-year-old Aurora resident, adding that he's looking forward to using the new phone for its higher-resolution camera.

Mike Rutkas was in the same position as Collins. He wasn't able to place a preorder and isn't surprised that he was left waiting in line with little chance of getting an iPhone on the first day.

"Waiting in line is par for the course," the 30-year-old Yorkville resident said. "This will be the fourth time I have waited in line for an Apple product. But this is the only time I'm going to be told, 'Nope.'"

But the perseverance award has to go to Kubie James of Bolingbrook. He was first in line to get a new iPhone. He'd been there for almost 24 hours.

"I got here about 9 a.m. Wednesday morning, and I've been in line almost 24 hours," he said. "I'm very excited. I get a new phone every year."

So why all the excitement? Why all the standing in line?

Rutkas said it's because the iPhone is the "latest and greatest." "The iPhone really is not a phone," he said. "It's a lifestyle appliance. It's the Swiss Army knife of phones." With its thousands of applications, Rutkas said, the iPhone connects him to the world. He said everyone in his family bought an iPhone after seeing his. "My fiance thought it was crazy that I had an iPhone," he said, "I replaced her phone with an iPhone. Now she can't live without it. "It's one of those products you don't know you need until you have it," he added. "And then once you have it, you can't live without it." Sapna Kamdar of Chicago can agree with that. Even though she successfully preordered an iPhone, she was planning for a three-hour wait to pick it up. It's worth it.

"I think it's a great phone," she said. "I don't like using any other phone." Then there's Roza Klingeman. The Naperville woman says she just loves everthing Mac and wants the new iPhone to replace her aging one. "I really like that it runs multiple applications at the same time and that it's faster and has a little bit more power." She knew there would be long line, so she brought along a book to read. "I knew it would be two to three hours," she said. "This happens every time Apple releases a new product. Right now, everything they touch turns to gold."