Assorted techies, first-generation iPhone junkies and a few novices stood in lines at Ala Moana Center, elsewhere on O'ahu and at stores across the nation yesterday to get a second-generation iPhone on the first day it was sold.

Unfortunately for them, problems with Apple's iTunes servers prevented many of the phones from being activated.

"It's such grief and aggravation," said Frederick Smalls, an insurance broker in Whitman, Mass., after spending two hours on the phone with Apple and AT&T Inc., trying to get his new iPhone to work.

Ironically, it was the iPhone's ease of use and its many features that drew people in droves.

"It's got twice the speed and twice the toys" of the first generation, said Rich Coughlin, a Coast Guard yeoman who virtually camped out in front of the Ala Moana Center's Apple Store, hoping to be the absolute first first customer there to buy a 3G.

He wound up a few spots back, but that did little to dampen his enthusiasm.

"Just having one is kind of the point of it," said Coughlin, 20, moments before the store doors opened.

He walked out a few minutes later, $300 lighter with a black 16-gigabyte 3G in hand — and a broad smile on his face. "I'm gonna wait till I get home to activate it," Coughlin said.

ACTIVATION PROBLEMS

The lines moved slowly into the Apple and AT&T stores selling the phone because employees were having trouble getting customers connected on their new phones while they waited.

A spokesman for AT&T, the exclusive carrier for the iPhone in the U.S., said there was a global problem with Apple's iTunes servers that prevented the phones from being fully activated in-store, as had been planned.

Instead, employees told buyers to go home and perform the last step by connecting their phones to their own computers, spokesman Michael Coe said.

However, the iTunes servers were equally hard to reach from home, leaving the phones unusable except for emergency calls.

The new phone went on sale in 21 countries yesterday, creating a global burden on the iTunes servers.

The problem extended to owners of the previous iPhone model. A software update released for that phone yesterday morning required the phone to be reactivated through iTunes.

"It's a mess," said freelance photographer Giovanni Cipriano, who updated his first-generation iPhone only to find it unusable.

ANXIOUS TO UPGRADE

Matthew Brohms, a visitor from Atlanta, came to the Ala Moana store prepared both physiologically and technologically for the wait.

"I'm still on Georgia time so I'm wide awake," said Brohms, who was using his laptop to conduct a Wi-Fi videoconference with his mother-in-law and two children back home in Atlanta.

Brohms, a Macintosh computer software developer, said he had been fantasizing about the "second honeymoon" trip to Hawai'i for about five years, and wasn't about to let the 3G unveiling put a dent in those plans.

Two things in particular attracted him to the 3G: faster Internet speed and enhanced GPS service.

T.J. Nii, a loan officer from Royal Kunia, got to Ala Moana about 6 a.m. and claimed the 65th spot in line. He had already settled on the white 16-gigabyte model to replace his first-generation iPhone.

"It's faster, has Microsoft Exchange, the e-mail is faster and it's supposed to have better audio," Nii said.

Hal Wilkerson, 34, a Navy pilot/navigator and Waikiki resident, said his first-generation iPhone served him well and expects the 3G to be "even better." He uses his current iPhone for everything from finding a good restaurant to text messaging.

Mike Woods of Mililani said he was more than ready to shell out $300 for a "black 16-gig."

"My friend has already said he'll buy my old phone from me for $160," said Woods, a server at Chili's Restaurant in Mililani.

Exactly how much does he use his current iPhone?

"Way too much," Woods said without missing a beat.

Tiana Haraguchi, 19, who now lives in Connecticut, took time from her vacation here visiting her father to buy one of the new phones.

Haraguchi, a college student and waitress, is hoping to vastly upgrade her conventional cell phone.

"It's faster and has a lot of good features," she said as she looked over a 3G brochure while standing in line.

NEW SALES STRATEGY

When the first iPhone went on sale a year ago, customers performed the whole activation procedure at home, freeing store employees to focus on sales. But the new model is subsidized by carriers, and Apple and AT&T therefore planned to activate all phones in-store to get customers on a contract.

Apple also had problems on Thursday with the launch of a new data service, MobileMe. The service is designed to synchronize a user's personal data across devices, including the iPhone, but many users were denied access to their accounts.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.