4:55 pm After much consulting with me, friends on ichat, Andrew Sloat has determined that he is going to buy an iPhone. It is also determined that his need for an iPhone is immediate, since he wants to use it on his trip to Washington DC this weekend. His train leaves at 9pm tonight. Stay tuned to find out what happens.

5:04 pm Andrew has his coat on. A called was made to the AT&T store in downtown brooklyn— iPhones are available and they are open.

5:06 pm Andrew has left the studio. We’ll see what he comes back with, and if he has enough time to sign-up/set-up the new iPhone AND make his train! Meanwhile, I continue to work (iPhoneless).

5:15 pm This just in—live and unedited—from Andrew (via text message on his non-iphone): foot traffic toward at and t is LIGHT. just realized i will not be able to play face book scarble on iphone! requires flash!

5:23 pm More updates from Andrew at the AT&T Store (unedited, as always): a quote… day bringin de iphone (west indian sales associate)

5:28 pm Andrew: turned down hard sell apple case plan

5:34 pm This just in from Geoff: This is terrific!

5:35 pm Andrew: iphone acquired at 1730 [UNCONFIRMED]

5:52 pm Andrew walked in with an iphone.

Andrew will now take over the live blogging as I am launching a website.

ANDREW SELF LIVE BLOGS FROM HERE

5:55 pm Can’t figure out how to open plastic wrap. It is as seamless as the phone.

5:56 pm Plastic wrap conquered.

5:56.5 pm Box opens like an Egyptian sarcophagus. iPhone sits on large empty molded plastic bed.

5:57 pm Brief Facebook break.

5:57.5 pm First physical contact with iPhone

5:58 pm Unplugging iPod. Basically trash anyway?

5:59 pm Noticed that they spelled my name wrong on my receipt; foresee hours of headaches with customer service.

6:00 pm Renda is angry that I’m not blogging in the right entry. I will fix this later. [CONTENT ON RENDA'S LIFE REDACTED]

6:07 pm iTunes update still downloading. Thinking about how I will decide which 8Gb of my music I will put on the iPhone.

6:10 pm Opening iTunes. Agreeing to licensing agreement, I confess I’m too excited to read the whole thing as I normally would.

6:11 pm Renda exclaims (mostly for show) OH MY GOD, ANDREW HAS AN iPHONE. HOLY FUCKING SHIT.

6:18 pm Noticed that the iPhone’s bed is a very high quality plastic.

6:20 pm iTunes is doing a lot of quiet thinking. That makes one of us!

6:20.5 pm choosing service plan. Hm. They all seems sort of bad.

6:24 pm A number of odd questions have been asked of me. More careful thinking by Apple.

6:29 pm Approving licensing agreements and terms of service for a number of big companies willy-nilly.

6:35 pm There is some syncing happening.

6:46 pm You can file email that you’ve read and replied to! For some reason I thought you couldn’t, and I foresaw having to move things I’d already read when I got to my desk. PRAISE HIM!

I will post more from the iPhone itself later this evening! Bye for now!

At first a startling high note of natural sugar, then a complex flavor adventure to come. I found Steaz Green Tea Soda’s root beer flavor to be a most excellent beverage. Not your average heavy rootbeer, but surprisingly light and refreshing in these late october days. I give it 2 thumbs up.