Yesterday was the Big Launch Day for the 3G version of the Apple iPhone. Twitter, FriendFeed, the blogosphere, and the news media were all about the millions of people who stood in line to buy the new iPhone. I heard on Twitter from people who had stood in line for hours and others who stood in line and were sent home because they wouldn’t get into the Apple store in time to complete the process that day.

I really want the new iPhone as well. I’ve been a Sprint customer since we came back to the United States from Japan in 1998, but Sprint has a poor lineup of phones with *maybe* a phone that might challenge the iPhone in September or October. It’ll be short, I’m sure, since none of the carriers have yet to figure out what people really want in a mobile device. Apple has it pretty well nailed, though.

So, this fine Saturday afternoon, after spending the morning and early afternoon on yard work, I decided to wander down to the AT&T store in Pocatello, Idaho (that’s where I live) to see if they had any iPhones in stock and what the individual and family pricing plans would be. My contract with Sprint has expired, as has Nina’s, so we can easily move networks.

But, the AT&T store in Pocatello, Idaho was mobbed with people. People buying iPhones! One of the big draws for the new iPhone is that it works on AT&T’s 3g network whereas up-until-now, the phone has only worked on their Edge network. Mind you, the 3G network is not available in Pocatello and might never be part of our landscape. Edge is the best that it gets around here. That apparently didn’t matter to the mob in the AT&T store. It doesn’t matter to me, either, since a good part of our travels puts us in 3G land.

Even more interesting is that the AT&T store here is sold out of iPhones. When I finally worked through the line and got to talk to a sales agent, the first thing he told me was, “We’re sold out. We’ve been sold out since before noon yesterday.” Further, he had no idea when they would get another shipment in, “but it’ll be at least a week.”

In response to my question about why so many people were in the store buying iPhones, I learned that they were setting up the contract and paying for the iPhone today. They were then put on a queue for the next shipment of phones and would be notified when their shiny new iPhone actually arrived. They would then come into the store for activation and to pick up the phone.

I wasn’t planning on buying an iPhone today. I was mostly interested in the pricing, particularly the family plan pricing if both my wife and I bought new iPhones. I did get some of that information, but because I wasn’t buying, he wanted me to go to the website instead so he could wait on someone who was going to buy.

As I left the store, I twittered: “Stopped at the AT&T store in Pocatello. The place is mobbed with people buying iPhones. The store is is out!” When I got home, my wife asked me if I had stopped anywhere. “Not really,” I replied. With a big grin she said, “Really? You didn’t stop anywhere?” Snagged. I told her I had stopped at the AT&T store for some info. “A secret spy told me you were in that store,” she told me. I thought through who was in the store that she would have talked to. Turns out it wasn’t anyone in the store…. My favorite brother had called from Green River, Wyoming and mentioned that I had been in the AT&T store looking at iPhones. No only would I have had to pay in advance, my wife knows about it well before I get home. Twitter tattle tales!