Lines for iPhones Grow Outside Stores, Online

The Apple iPhone goes on sale Friday at 6 p.m., marking the end of four months of hype, speculation, and advertising — and many Apple fans want to be there when it happens.

David Clayman, 21, arrived at the Fifth Avenue store at 2 p.m. Monday. The loud traffic and heat kept Mr. Clayman, a recent college graduate, up all night, but he said it is worth it.

"I realized how much of a party it's going to be," he said. "It's an adventure."

For those who can't wait in line, Craiglist had 33 posts yesterday with offers to wait in line for a fee. Shawn Anderson, 32, of Bushwick, hired four friends to wait in line for $300 each and has already heard back from interested clients. When the Wii and PlayStation 3 video game consoles were released last November, Mr. Anderson hired stand-ins, too.

"The first release means so much to people," he said. "It's worth this amount of money."

The iPhone, which combines a phone handset, multimedia player, and Web browser with a touch screen, is hailed as the first easy-to-use multifunction phone. It is available in two sizes: four gigabytes of flash memory for $499 or eight gigabytes for $599.

The product release also gave inspiration to budding filmmakers. A director, Alec Sutherland, 25, released his one-minute unofficial commercial "I NY" two weeks ago, and already it has more than 150,000 hits on his Web site. It explores the theory that multilingual New Yorkers may actually be talking about the same thing and in it, actors talk about the iPhone in their native Spanish, Russian, Hebrew, Arabic, or sign language.

In Manhattan, the Apple stores allow line waiters to use their bathroom, and food carts line the sidewalk. On Friday, Apple stores will close at 2 p.m. to set up and reopen at 6 p.m. The SoHo store will close at midnight but resume normal business hours Saturday, and the Fifth Avenue store is open 24 hours a day.