So, after all the waiting and cold-ness, we have put together a video of the experience of the Apple Store @ West 14th Street. Check it out! Let us know what you think!!

So the day has come and passed, and now it is time to reflect. We left New Jersey for the city at about 1:30 PM, arriving at the Apple Store a little before 3 PM. When we arrived, the line was fairly civil and it was lightly snowing.

Contrary to some queues where you sit at your place, by the order in which you arrived, we were stuffed between two barricades, about 2 feet wide, which allowed for interesting queueing. As the line would move, groups of people would ‘cut’ others, sometimes purposely or sometimes inadvertently. Especially as the time passed, the line became increasingly packed which added to the fun. Sidney and I were separated close to opening, because selfish people who decided to knock down one of the barriers cut into the line, thus splitting us apart. Of course, this only added to the already prevalent pushing, chaos and general madness. Security personnel were present with the NYPD, but they were not doing a good job of crowd/queue control.

While waiting, it was funny to hear the confused people talk and even fight over the ‘free stuff’ supposedly being given away at the ‘iPod Store’. “I want some of those free iPhones!” or “Move out of my way, I’m getting a free iPod!!” were commonly heard throughout the four or so hours we waited. Some people even were reporting that everything in the store was free. However, Sidney and I were generally quick to correct the misinformation. While it is always Apple’s distinct style not to disclose these kind of things (such as detailed information regarding Grand Opening events), I thought that the general public could have been better informed.

However, once we got inside the doors — about 1 hour after the 6 PM opening time — things all went uphill. All the Apple staff were very courteous and cool (as per usual) and the store was just awesome. Quite possibly my new favorite Apple Store, dethroning SoHo. The DJ and dancing taking place on the third floor was cool, so we chose to chill there for the few hours we stayed inside. In fact, we were even approached by a few staff who conversed with us about the site (as we were filming, taking pictures, Live blogging and editing in Final Cut) — shoutout to you guys who were curious enough to ask!!

So in total, a great day, but for some flaws regarding the line to get in. I hope someone from Apple can read this. 😉

Sidney here. I’m up a bit earlier than usual today, and with a purpose: The iLife is heading to New York City to join in the opening-night celebration for Manhattan’s newest, largest, and most impressively designed store. (Fine, the 5th Ave Cube may still hold the “impressive” title, but this comes close.)

We’ve loaded our bags with equipment to bring you up-to-the-minute pictures, video, and stories from the line and the party. Stay tuned: we expect to be in line shortly after 3PM. (Admittedly later than the 4AM the top-ten had to shoot for, but not too shabby.)

Live updates after the jump.

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So, as we are now approaching less than one month until Macworld 2008, the rumor mills are starting to churn out those crazy pre-Macworld rumors (do I hear ultra portable MacBook?) and I am preparing to attend! Being my first year as an attendee at Macworld I have started to prepare the LiveBlogging/rapid uploading of pictures throughout the keynote, for the site. Also, seeing that I live in New Jersey, I have a couple hundred thousand miles to travel and things to work out. I will certainly keep you all posted, and don’t forget that TheiLife.com will be your one stop Macworld 2008 source!