Hasta La Gadget!

Owing to, as Tom Lehrer would say, nepotism and intrigue, I found myself in the small town of Brenham, Texas, this Sunday on the very day that Apple’s iPhone was to go on sale at the Wal-Mart mega-chain (an outfit that I, as a native New Yorker, have had very little experience with).

Popping in to check out the action and snag some photos, I found a single iPhone display — it would be generous to call it a kiosk — with an activated iPhone and a handful of brochures. The price tags on display gave both the new customer/upgrade price, as well as the full retail price. A small paper sign taped to the wall announced that iPhone sales would commence at 9:00 am, and that customers should line up for access to limited stock.

I asked a sales clerk about first-day sales, and she said as far as she knew they hadn’t sold a single unit so far, “but maybe if they had started selling it before Christmas…” There was, however, a steady stream of gawkers checking out the display unit in the 10 or so minutes I spent in the electronics department.

Herewith some photos of the in-store Wal-Mart display:
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Originally posted at Digital City Podcast