Australian shopper lines up for iPhone 6s with iPad-based telepresence robot
An Australian woman is using an iPad-equipped telepresence robot in Sydney to remotely secure her place in line for Apple's Friday launch of the highly anticipated iPhone 6s.
Image Credit: Atomic 212
The robot is currently fourth in line at company's flagship Australian store in Sydney, Mashable said. The woman controlling it, Lucy Kelly, has also set up a tent with a charger to keep the robot functioning during the overnight wait. In the meantime she has been interacting with other people in line, some of whom have posed for photos with the robot.
Her employer -- a media agency -- owns six of the robots, and offered her one of them so that she could camp out for the phone and still do her job. The plan is to purchase an iPhone without human interaction, though Kelly did not tell Mashable how that would work, or how and when she would pick up the device.
The first person in line has been camped outside the store for 17 days. The wait is almost over though, as it's already early Friday morning in Sydney, and sales will begin at 8 a.m. local time.
Australia is one of 12 regions that will carry the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus at launch. The others include Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Singapore, the U.K., and the U.S.
Because online orders of the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus have already been pushed into October, the only way of securing one this weekend will likely involve visiting an Apple, carrier, or third-party retail store. Stock could quickly evaporate by the end of Friday, if not mid-day.
Image Credit: Atomic 212
The robot is currently fourth in line at company's flagship Australian store in Sydney, Mashable said. The woman controlling it, Lucy Kelly, has also set up a tent with a charger to keep the robot functioning during the overnight wait. In the meantime she has been interacting with other people in line, some of whom have posed for photos with the robot.
Her employer -- a media agency -- owns six of the robots, and offered her one of them so that she could camp out for the phone and still do her job. The plan is to purchase an iPhone without human interaction, though Kelly did not tell Mashable how that would work, or how and when she would pick up the device.
The first person in line has been camped outside the store for 17 days. The wait is almost over though, as it's already early Friday morning in Sydney, and sales will begin at 8 a.m. local time.
Australia is one of 12 regions that will carry the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus at launch. The others include Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Singapore, the U.K., and the U.S.
Because online orders of the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus have already been pushed into October, the only way of securing one this weekend will likely involve visiting an Apple, carrier, or third-party retail store. Stock could quickly evaporate by the end of Friday, if not mid-day.
Comments
None of this is about getting a phone though.
If this is fair game, why not just leave a rock with your name on it? Or better yet, ask the person in front of you to save your place and then come back when the doors are about to open.
Or you could, you know, pre-order.
Or you could, you know, read the story (particularly the last paragraph).
-kpluck
Nothing will prevent that robot from being turned off.
Alternatively, maybe one can rent a Brit. Aren't they supposed to be excellent in queueing?
Btw: I remember many years back, when I was living in Italy, I wanted to get tickets for the Scala di Milano. As tickets were excessively expensive in ticket shops I thought to get them at the actual ticket counter of the opera house. But that was for some funny reason impossible. I then learned from a guy standing around that to get a ticket you have to sign up with the "friends of the opera". But all he'd say was that sometime around two weeks before the show they'd show up somewhere near the Scala. So more out of fun I went two weeks before the show and found a young guy with a clipboard standing and waiting outside. He eventually disclosed he maintained THE LIST. I signed up ® King that was it. But I was wrong. I order to STAY in that list you'd have to come to the piazza when there was a call. Which nobody officially knew when that would be. After some cash exchanged hands I wa driven a date and time. I turned out that I had to show up in nearly random frequency at all day and night times. As would hundreds of other people. Mostly kids sent out by the ticket shops. Or travel agencies. Only a few hard core opera lovers. I remember a 75 year old lady who did this since years. Then some guys in suits showed up. The famous "friends of the opera". The list would be read out. And if you were called you stepped in front. Then you would be back for the next call. I think it was ten times over two weeks. And only then on the day of the show you could line up in front of the official ticket shop and enter according to the list to finally buy your ticket.i went twice through this.
Today, you just order online. Times change, but this I won't forget
Edit: first was the season's opening with Mozart's "Zauberflöte" (Magic flute), The second was Nabucco.
You're right, but I still don't get it. What is the benefit of waiting in line for over half a month. That just seems ridiculous on every level.
Unfair also. Someone out to pick that thing up and toss it in a ditch somewhere.
You're right, but I still don't get it. What is the benefit of waiting in line for over half a month. That just seems ridiculous on every level.
Ordering on the computer beforehand does not get you in the news, on the internet, youtube, or whatever. Crazies standing in line a for half a month do get on the news, youtube, or whatever. I think it has something to do with attention getting.
Too many publicity seeking, attention whores seem to come out of the woodwork whenever there's a new Apple launch. I guess you could say that there is a circus like atmosphere, and the circus attracts clowns.
This robot idea is obviously dumb and would never work in the real world. That robot would be stolen in a New York minute.
Also, Apple should only allow humans to wait in line and purchase phones. There are enough scammers and criminals around, paying homeless people to stand in line and cheating the system. I've seen it myself with my own eyes. The last thing that we need are idiots using "robots" as placeholders. And this robot is just an iPad on some sort of gyro stick with wheels. If a person can not be bothered to physically wait in line, then they should not be able to purchase an iPhone.
I read that Apple is not going to sell phones in 4 states I believe it was, at least on launch day. Those states are the states where there is no sales tax for the phone. Apple obviously did this to curb the sales of iPhones to the blackmarket and to douchebags! Anything that hurts scumbag scalpers is a good thing!
Went there for a 6S, came away with a 6S, an iPad and a self balancing robot.
Well it would be more hygienic to have a line of robots waiting as against a line of smelly, tired humans.
I also question how much work she's getting done. If she's called to a meeting, does she have another robot follow her so her face stays on the robot? And then there's the question of personal time, does she switch off the telepresence when she's sleeping, or in the bathroom?
This robot idea is obviously dumb and would never work in the real world. That robot would be stolen in a New York minute.
Someone made a hitchhiking robot that managed to hitchhike across Canada, Germany, Norway and the Netherlands. It didn't last long in the US before it was destroyed.
USA! USA! USA!
This robot idea is obviously dumb and would never work in the real world. That robot would be stolen in a New York minute.
Except it wasn't, cause, you know, the rest of the world isn't like America. Is that really what it's like?
I regularly leave my belongings unattended in cafes, pubs and restaurants (including laptops) without a worry and have never had anything stolen. If I really cared I might ask a stranger to watch it. This is very common everywhere except prominent tourist areas where it's known there are thieves.
In some countries people might chase after you to hand something back you forgot rather than you have to chase them!
Don't believe me? Read the comment two posts above!