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So this past Friday I decided to join in in the rush for the iPhone, admittedly I have been leading a little bit of a charge for it. So around 2:00 PM, I arrived to jump in line at the 5th Ave. store here in NYC. The line wasn’t too bad, was probably around 250 - 275 in line, no need to have arrived on Monday… Throughout the day, through a mix of standing and sitting on the pavement, many people kept coming by with lots of freebies, from lemonade by Virgin Atlantic to some delicious popcorn from a company that I can’t remember. The one overwhelming presence though was the cart pushed by Apple employees, stocked with Vitamin Water that circled the block about once an hour.

The waiting wasn’t the exciting part, it really came down to right about the time of walking into the store. As we all turned the corner onto 5th Ave, there was an energy led by the throngs of media and the Apple employees themselves. As you got closer to the store all you heard was the sound of clapping and cheering.

So the fanfare was unbelievable as you finally got to walk into the store. Employees lined the way, all standing there in their black Apple t-shirts and clapping. From the time we walked into the door, down the spiral staircase, employees cheered, clapped, high-fived all of us as we were briskly ushered into the line. You heard works of “thanks for waiting,” “you did it,” amongst other words of congrats for all of us who have waited much longer than a few hours in line that day. I could not find a single person without an ear-to-ear grin on their face as we all quickly parted with our money for what many skeptical passers by offered up, “it’s just a phone.”

So, I finally made my way to the cashier, who greeted me with unbelievable pleasantries. I asked for my two iPhones (separate bags, of course), and in no time I was holding them in my hands. After, I walked around the store as others descended the stairway, all looking like this was the best thing they have ever done, I couldn’t help think that Apple knows how to create an unbelievable experience.

We finally walked up the stairs, and as we walked out of the store we held out bags in the air for the eager press, smiled, swung our arms, kids in a candy shop. I did a quick interview with some international reporter, but all i really wanted to do was find my cab so I could get home and open my new phone.

After all is said and done, Apple orchestrated an unbelievable experience for me. From the point of arriving in line to getting my phone plugged in at home, every minute was so well planned and orchestrated. They know it truly is more than just a phone. I know and appreciate that for myself, and those like me, who raise their iPhones in the air, and even join a flickr group Photos of me with an iPhone, have a lot to learn about developing unbelievable experiences like this, and really making something great, whether it’s a phone, a website, or a conversation. Kudos Apple.

Bye bye blackberry…

So, I have been sort of avoiding facebook, with all their recent updates and news, sort of thinking that it was a lot of puff…

I have to say, after spending some time trying out applications, and digging around, there are some really amazing tools and features available.

Facebook really has done a great job of providing some exciting offerings, and the best part
is that the more you dig in, the more things you find (take a look myspace…).

I guess I better spend some time building a facebook app sooner than I thought…

Find me over there at Facebook

So I finally got a chance to upgrade a bunch of my software this week and I have to say my MBP is blazing. Clearly there is something to these Universal apps…

Way to go Parallels 3, Adobe CS3, and Coda (which I initially didn’t love vs. TextMate, but it is really growing on me).

Things have been a little busy lately, and I have unfortunately not given much time to this blog… Hopefully soon.

I am really looking forward to getting down there, looks to be great. Should be a blast.

• How To Get The Most Out of Flickr
  Great example of a getting started page. A good human voice that reaches to all technical levels.
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• Bokardo - Social Web Design » Five Principles to Design By
  Great principles applying to the design process
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• ::HorsePigCow:: marketing uncommon » Diversity and the Web2Open
  Nice non-corporate feeling opportunities to hear individual stories and successes at web 2.0 expo
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• Tumblr
  A great new low-barrier to entry way to document your life and attention.
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Just a nice walk through the city.

London EyeOriginally uploaded by zarzecks.

So it appears as if the season is upon us. Returned recently from a fantastic conference put on by Carson Workshops, The Future of Web Apps in London. There were such a great diversity of voices speaking on everything related to the rapidly developing space. Tara Hunt and Chris Messina of Citizen Agency ran a great panel on many discussions of community development where some great thoughts and participation emerged from the crowd. Plus there were many more, including the team from Last.fm, who really dove into their process and history, which was invaluable to evaluating many decisions that are required daily in building new web apps.

I was initially skeptical as to the overall benefit of what would be achieved, but in the end, it truly was an invaluable couple of days. I am looking forward to SXSW coming up this weekend, and hope to catch up with a bunch of folks to continue to discuss the climate for community and experience. I hope that it can be nearly as valuable as FOWA was.

Still evaluating web 2.0 expo, not 100% sure who the audience is, and hopefully will have a better sense in the near future to determine if it seems like a valuable trip. I am excited however about the Web2Open. It seems a great and exciting way to connect and discuss and learn fom peers experiencing many of the similar challenges and successes, and these conferences are really a great spot to put faces to the names that overflow my NetNewsWire feeds.

Pete Cashmore of Mashable wrote briefly today on Facebook’s removal of it’s Pulse feature. This action by Facebook is an important note on the reality that sites need to continue to understand what is going to provide value to its users, and what is going to help move forward the ultimate goals of the sites.

Works for:
Amazon: Mover’s and Shakers - Helps me think about what to buy.

Doesn’t work for:
Netflix: Top 100 - Never changes, doesn’t help me find new movies.

Just because it works for some, doesn’t mean it will work for all.