About 100 people gathered outside Perth's CBD Apple store on Friday morning awaiting the release of the iPhone 7, with a sizeable proportion having camped out overnight.
This reporter watched in bemusement as staff inside gathered for a ritual involving forming a human corridor to greet their lucky first customer and warming up by shouting SEVEN at each other.
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Apple iPhone 7 craze
Lines, cheering and loud noises were all part of the iPhone 7 launch in Perth.
Their door-greeter geared up those first in line outside on Hay Street by yelling 'are you ready' and jumping about with his fists in the air.
He briefed the first in line on what direction to take once inside, in case dazzled by the white surfaces, so as not to mess with the system they must have had in place to deal with the rush.
When they opened the doors all cheered, inside and out, and the young man dashed inside and through the human corridor, high-fiving each Apple staffer, rather as though he had just got married.
A quick Google reveals the new features of the phone, which appear to be water resistance, a better battery and – wait for it – a new colour, black.
But Khai Nguyen, who spent a chilly and doubtless uncomfortable night on the pavement waiting, was going for gold, in terms of casing choice.
"I need the upgrade," he said.
"It's waterproof. And the new camera is very nice."
A lot of the people waiting, in fact, were there for the new Apple Watch, which I discovered was also being released on Friday. But they were not all crazily excited.
"If I'm not inside in 15 minutes I'm bailing," said another punter, much further back in line than the die-hard street sleepers.
"I want it enough to get here an hour early for work, but I live in the city anyway, so waiting in the city for an hour isn't a massive deal."
Another told me that it wasn't so much a matter of being the first to have one, but that the store would probably sell out, so if you wanted one in less than a month it was worth waiting.
The line didn't look too bad a place to be, anyway. Most of the people in it already had a smartphone to play with to pass the time, so that's what they did.
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