If you want to get an iPhone when they first come out, it's going to be hard as the initial production will be limited. You can can forget about ordering one on-line, that'll take forever.

Ditto for the Apple stores, they'll be swamped with hipster geeks trying to check out the iPhone. There are a limited number of Apple stores, and they are all in markets where there are a lot of consumer that like their products.

The best bet is a rural ATT cellular store. Word on the street is that the ATT stores will get a set number of iPhones per store. Find yourself a rural area within a two hour drive of where you live that has an ATT store, and drive there. You can be sure that in this area, the iPhone will not be the "event of the year" and you'll have a chance at getting one. It's really your only chance at geek chic-doom.