Rival Posers Pretend to be First in Line for the iPad at Apple Fifth Ave

Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.

Yesterday evening, we trotted up to Apple Fifth Avenue?which you already know if you follow us on Twitter?in order to pay a visit to the idiot who'd been camped out since yesterday morning for a first go at the iPad release tomorrow morning. And after reading the Engadget "interview" with this man, Greg Packer, where he states that he didn't bring any food or water for his stay, we even played good samaritan by bringing him some drinks and a bag of pizza-flavor Goldfish crackers.

But instead of finding the notorious Greg, line waiter extraordinaire, we saw a German dude in first place. We patrolled inside and outside the store, but even after a couple visits back, there was no sign of Greg or his folding chair, and yet there the German sat. How did we know he was German? Well, he had a Bavarian flag folded over the railing next to him and his accent when we talked to him gave it away.

Eventually we tired of Greg-scouting and chatted up the German. Was he the first in line, we asked. "No, there has been some other man here from noon today, we know," he said, referring, of course, to his rival Greg. So what was a Bavarian doing sitting on the curb, seemingly first in line? "We are just pretending for photos, but we will be in the line for Saturday morning," he answered.

Pretending?! The German admits it, but we have a feeling that's Greg's motive, too. Show up and sit down and tell people he's first for press coverage, and then go sit in Starbucks and sleep in Penn Station the rest of the time. Plus, the German was whipping out everything from a new Macbook to fancy headphones and his iPhone to pass the few hours he was there, "pretending."

We can't wait to see how this plays out. Stay tuned for more coverage on the iPad line and release tomorrow morning here at Racked NY.
· The Calm Before the iPad, at Apple Fifth Avenue [Racked NY]
· First Guy in Line for iPad is Same Stupid Guy in Line for Everything [Gawker]
· NYC iPad Line Sitter Also Camped Out for First iPhone [Engadget]