I called the att store again today, I asked them how long will it take to transfer my number from T-Mobile to ATT the lady told me it will take about 3hrs, then i asked how many will they have in stock she said she didn't know I toll her I did not want to wait in line for hours if I was not going to get one she told me depending on the line they would tell people how many they have.
Rest assured that this is a significant launch, a milestone if you will. Therefore the key ingredient for any of us to bring is patience.
I have had my number moved from one carrier to the next on more than one occasion in the last year and it only takes a few minutes to set it up, then it takes awhile for the system to process depending on work load. In my case on non busy days it only took 10 minutes. You're being quoted 3 hours just to be safe.
Regarding how many iPhones they have this is top secret and they are not about to tell the truth, especially if only a few per store are going out. They do not want to have the launch fizzle out before it even arrives. If people knew there were only going to be a few then the droves of people would not camp out and the news cameras would have nothing to cover. This is the last thing Apple wants to happen after all the hype, and media coverage this product has received to date.
Prepare for iPhone Mania!
This is a crap shoot no matter how you look at it. The only answer is to decide if your willing to wait for hours only to come away empty handed and still not know when you will be able to get one.
I personally think this will be like the Playstation 3 launch. Lots of hype, lots of crowds, lots of confusion, lots of angry people, a few thieves, lots of reporters and very few iPhones to sell.
I hope I'm wrong.