AUBURN – Bill Jefferson never cared much for cell phones. They’re intrusive, he believes, and more trouble than they’re worth. Who needs it?

Then came the iPhone, and the 59-year-old decided to change his ways.

“They’re so elegant,” the Waterville man said Friday night. “What I like about the iPhone, or what I hope to like, is that it’s going to be intuitive. It’s going to be easy to use.”

So much for crusty adherence to a principal. Jefferson joined three-dozen others Friday to wait in line for an iPhone at AT&T on Center Street. After seven hours in the sun, he had a phone in hand and was rushing home with it.

“I haven’t even touched it yet,” Jefferson said. “It’s still in the box.”

The people who milled outside waiting for their phones on the first day of availability scoffed at those who mocked their commitment to a gadget. Pure iPhone envy, suggested one man, who showed up about 5 p.m. to wait for the AT&T doors to open an hour later.

“I like having to do this kind of stakeout. I like having to wait in line,” said 22-year-old Matt Chapman of Auburn. “But it’s really the boatload of features the phone comes with. I think the best part is the integration of the iPod.”

The Apple product has been making headlines for months. The new phone is being billed as a must-have gizmo that does a little of everything. You can surf the Web on it. You can check e-mail. It’s a phone, a camera and a music player all in one.

“All of that integrated into one product,” said 52-year-old Don Potter, who sat in the shade under a tent as he waited. “I’ve had iPods and Mac computers. This has a lot of Macintosh technology.”

Potter had no problem waiting for his phone. It was roughly 75 degrees outside most of the day and quite comfortable. He’d been through worse.

“This is working out better than when I waited for the Wii,” he said, of his lengthy wait for the popular video game gadget. “That was in the winter. It was cold.”

Cam Shaw wanted to make sure he did not come away Friday without an iPhone in his hands. He began his day in the AT&T parking lot at 11 a.m., sure that by day’s end, he would be among the first to have one.

Why so determined?

“It’s all the features,” the 18-year-old said. “It’s having an iPod and a browser to surf the Web. I like most of the products Mac puts out, and I wanted to guarantee I could get one of these.”

As they crowded the front door of AT&T, drivers passing on Center Street occasionally honked their horns and chided the geeky masses.

“People have been making fun of us,” Shaw said. “A guy going into Quiznos told me I’m a moron to be out here waiting.”

“That’s iPhone envy,” said Chapman, who stood at number eight on the list of customers being seen by AT&T reps.

In the parking lot, some stood mingling with other phone geeks. Some staked out a spot and remained there in stony silence for more than an hour as they waited.

“For us, it’s just a cool phone,” said one man, who was so protective of his iPhone he did not want to use his name. “For a lot of people, it’s a matter of well-being. It’s their way of life.”

“It’s justified hype,” said AT&T spokeswoman Kate MacKinnon.

Others weren’t so sure. A few people wandered by the Center Street business just to see what all the commotion was about. They rolled their eyes when told people were waiting for the latest, greatest piece of technology on the market.

“I like gadgets as much as anyone,” said Clifford Roy, who rode up on his bicycle. “But I’m not ready to stand in line to pay that much money.”

The iPods were selling for $500-$600, depending on how much disk space a person wanted.

“I don’t know,” Clifford said before wheeling away. “Maybe someday.”

Most people admitted that the phones and the necessary calling plans are a bit pricey. But they did what they had to do and came up with the money.

For days, Jefferson’s wife had been trying to talk him out of shelling out for one of the phones. He probably should have listened to her.

“It turns out she was going to get me one for my birthday,” he said.