Controversy hit the front of the London iPhone 4 queue, with the person who stood at the front of the line for two days threatening to complain to Steve Jobs after Apple 'rearranged' things.
Ben Paton of Stoke on Trent was the first man out, but expressed sympathy for Alex Lee, who had queued for DOUBLE the time, but was curiously moved back by Apple.
Alex Lee: A hollow second place
Paton delight
Lee's frustration was a rare sour note in an otherwise enormous but friendly queue, with 23-year-old Paton enjoying his 15 minutes of fame as first through the doors.
"It's been an incredible experience," he told TechRadar. "I did ask if [Lee] could be moved into the front of the queue.
"Alex Lee had been there since a couple of days ago."
"Apple was moving people around to get people with contracts and things – people that had pre-reserved were moved forward and people that hadn't reserved were sent back."
So to the list of famous second places like Buzz Aldrin and Ultravox's Vienna add Alex Lee – 32 hours to come a distant runner-up.
