Tamy Patterson of Richmond celebrates after buying the much anticipated iPhone at the Apple Store in Emeryville on Friday. (Sean Connelley - Staff)
 Six o'clock Friday night came none too soon for the 300 or so iPhone fans outside the Apple store in Emeryville.

  As Jiggs Davis, Tamy Patterson, Rick Shibata and 15 of the other "first-in-liners" strode into the store, about 50 Apple employees clapped, cheered and offered high-fives to these first purchasers of the much-vaunted iPhone.

  "Actually, it's kind of cool," said Patterson of Richmond, the fourth person to purchase a phone at the store. She had waited in line since about 5 a.m., but she didn't open the box there. Like most other customers, she took her new gadget and scurried home. The iPhone — which went on sale at 6 p.m. Friday at Apple and AT&T stores nationwide — is a cell phone, Internet browser and iPod wrapped into one. But, according to those willing to wait 12 and 13 hours to buy one, it is much more.

  Apple CEO Steve Jobs has touted the phone as "revolutionary." It has been the focus of endless anticipatory chatter and has been parodied on late-night TV. Since its unveiling in January, expectations that it will become yet another blockbuster product for Apple has pushed the company's stock up more than 40 percent.

  Apple itself has set a target of selling 10 million units worldwide by 2008, gaining roughly a 1 percent share of the cell phone market.

  The handset's price tag is $499 for a 4-gigabyte model and $599 for an 8-gigabyte version, on top of a minimum $59.99-a-month two-year service plan with AT&T Inc., the phone's

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 exclusive carrier.

  For those who were among the first to get their hands on one, it was worth it and then some.

  "I'm a gadget guy and it's just another toy to play with," said Alex Schleing, 59, one of the first to purchase iPhones at the Apple store in Burlingame. Schleing and his wife, Sheila, 57, both retired from high-tech jobs, stood in line eight hours for their iPhones. The couple are also aficionados of Apple products.

  "We've had an Apple computer since 1975," said Sheila Schleing. "We have two Macs and an Apple TV."

  With that, the two walked off.

  Earlier Friday afternoon, it was a techie Woodstock outside the Burlingame store, complete with lawn chairs, laptops, Smart Water vendors and an overwhelming sense of camaraderie as about 150 people waited in line outside the Burlingame Avenue store.

  The Associated Press and MediaNews Staff Writer Troy Wolverton contributed to this report.

  "I'm glad I did it," said Amer Deeba of San Francisco, who teamed up with a friend to wait in line outside the Burlingame store, where shoppers were limited to two phones apiece. The store was open until midnight, but an employee declined to say how many phones they had in stock.

  Earlier this week, AT&T announced it would deliver phones to customers who were unable to purchase them at stores.

  Apple closed its retail stores between 2 and 6 p.m. Friday to get ready for the phone launch. Windows were draped in black curtains, shielding views of the stores' interiors, and white letters announced "iPhone World Premiere tonight at 6 p.m."

  After the first phones were sold, there was no less excitement than at a graduation ceremony or wedding as new buyers walked down the aisle after purchasing their phones.

  Jiggs Davis, 73, of Piedmont, was the first in line at the Emeryville store. He arrived there at 4:45 a.m.

  "It was very much worth it. No question about it," he said as he and his wife walked away with their new phones, toting their lawn chairs and a bag full of books and other goodies that kept them occupied during the long wait.

  "I'm an Apple user from day one," Davis said earlier that afternoon, while still parked outside the store.

  Even Steve Wozniak, the ex-partner of Apple CEO Steve Jobs, showed up at a Silicon Valley mall at 4 a.m. aboard his Segway scooter to wait for an iPhone.

  He needn't have bothered, however. At the end of July, the company will be handing out the 8-gigabyte version of its new handset to all its full-time U.S. employees, Apple spokesman Steve Dowling said. Everyone from the executives and engineers who work in Apple's headquarters in Cupertino to the employees of its retail stores will get one.

   Wozniak said the device would redefine cell phone design and use.

  "Look how great the iPod turned out," he told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "So who wants to miss that revolution? That's why there's all this big hype for the iPhone."

  Apple is indeed banking that its new, do-everything phone with a touch-sensitive screen will become its third core business next to its moneymaking iPod music players and Macintosh computers.

  Still, some people waiting all day outside the Apple store just knew an opportunity when they saw one.

  "I'm going to resell it," said Jack Lai, No. 11 in line Friday afternoon at the Emeryville store. In fact, he was posting an iPhone for sale on eBay as he spoke, he said.

  Some of those braving the wind and bright sun were doing so for loved ones. One mother was waiting in line for her 30-year-old son who had just had an operation.

  But at least one person in line, Barry Loshin, said he didn't want one at all.

  "My wife wants one," Loshin said. "I'm here for her."

  At the AT&T store in El Cerrito on Friday afternoon, about 24 people were in line three hours before the iPhone would go on sale. Two cars full of people had spent the night there. Devan Langford of Calaveras County pitched a tent on top of his truck. Meanwhile, four recent Berkeley High School graduates slept in their SUV to be numbers two, three, four and five in line.

  James Robinson wasn't shy about why he wanted one.

  "Just to be hip," he said.

  The Associated Press and MediaNews Staff Writer Troy Wolverton contributed to this report.