In a story that has been criminally underreported by the media in the last few days (no I wasn’t able to keep a straight face) the iPhone finally gets released today. Praise the heavens, sing hallajullah… Jesus is coming back and he’s brought everyone free ice cream! Clearly this is the most important occurrence since man learned how to create fire; and I’d hate to dump cold water on the proceedings but here’s are a couple of things to keep in mind before you go out and spend your kid’s college fund to become the first person on your block.

1) Don’t feel guilty. Unless it’s still 1935; $599 was never going to cover your son’s college tuition anyway.

2) You’ll be tempted to pick your iPhone at an Apple store instead of AT&T and that’s perfectly understandable; Apple is cool while AT&T is just schizophrenic- are they AT&T; are they Cingular? In basketball terms AT&T Cingular is basically the salary dump in a major trade. In order to get the player you really want you have to take on the multiyear contract of an albatross that’s too slow and overpriced. You don’t want to be reminded that you’re getting stuck with Cingular; of course you’d rather buy your iPhone at an Apple store. But consider this:

This is the scene at the flagship Apple Store in midtown Manhattan earlier this morning. It’s a circus there with likely thousands waiting in line. People have been getting free t-shirts with companies figuring all the TV coverage will add up to really high profile product placement.

Compare that to this likely scene outside an At&T store:

3) Also in terms of in line etiquette; remember no stampeding, shanking, or other forms of unwanted physical contact. While we agree that the ends justify the means in making sure you get an iPhone, remember; there’s no way of knowing for sure if you’ll get cell phone reception in prison.

Photos thanks to CNET and Pounding System