iPhone buzz index booms to 8,225 going into the weekend

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Today's iPhone buzz has risen to 8,225 over the last 24 hours, I suspect because we're going into the last weekend before availability. Next weekend, I expect the index to be well over 10,000 as reporters show pictures of people standing in lines and actually buying the devices. Further, I intend to be one of those; I'm planning a trip to shoot photos at the local Apple and AT&T stores on Friday myself.

The Chicago Tribune reports that the iPhone is the top choice among people planning to buy a new smart phone in the next three months. The New York Times notes that AT&T is hoping that the iPhone has coattails in terms of subscribers and buyers of AT&T services. And the Washington Post says that the iPhone promises to change the way the wireless industry plays. But my favorite lede was from the San Diego Union Tribune that said that "the Apple iPhone will create a consumer frenzy previously limited to such products as video game consoles and Cabbage Patch dolls."

Fellow analyst Maribel Lopez and I were talking about this yesterday, and we wondered if this might be the biggest launch of a consumer electronics product ever made. If nothing else, the press coverage certainly suggests that now.

Technorati Tags: Apple, Apple Store, at&t, iPhone, iPhone Buzz Index