Rising 8th-grader first in line for iPhone at Charlotte mall

CHARLOTTE (AP) — Mark Petrone has it down.

First in line outside the Apple Store at Southpark Mall in Charlotte. Enough cash to buy two iPhones.

The 14-year-old, rising eighth-grader arrived at four-30 this morning — two-and-a-half-hours before the mall opens and 13-and-a-half-hours before the phone goes on sale.

He calls the new Apple gadget "the best product they've invented yet" and "revolutionary."

His plan is to buy two phones, sell one on E-Bay, and recoup his cost for the phone he'll keep.

When the store opened at ten this morning, about 30 people were lined up behind Petrone.

The teen says he's not worried about carrying more than a thousand dollars in cash. "It's carefully protected and secure," Petrone says, tapping his shorts.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)