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GREENSBORO - They were armed with MacBooks and iPhones for amusement, Apple sweatshirts and sleeping bags for warmth.

They swapped anecdotes about Steve Jobs, referring to him on a first-name basis.

As the temperatures dipped below freezing at the Shops at Friendly Center on Friday night, this trio of twenty-something guys huddled under the warm white glow of Apple's iconic fruit-shaped logo.

This morning, when other customers likely will start lining up to be one of the people to receive a free commemorative T-shirt, these three will have earned techie street cred that can't be duplicated.

They will have waited all night to be the first in line at Greensboro's new Apple store. For a T-shirt.

Not a discount. Not a free Mac. A T-shirt.

If you suggest this is strange, you'll set off eye rolls from Ian Meyer, Dan Auer and a Mac guy who would only give his name as Kevin.

You clearly don't get it, they said.

The three - who have all worked at Apple stores - became quick friends outside the new store Friday night, waiting in line for the 10 a.m. opening.

The first in line, Meyer, 23, from Carrboro, has been to five of these openings from Florida to New York City.

A training video for Apple Store employees features Meyer pumping both fists in the air at one of those events - an anecdote he shared with a giggle.

Meyer set up an iSight, a webcam, to snap photos of the all-night revelers every 30 seconds, to be posted online.

But why?

"You just don't understand," said Auer, 23, the only line-sitter from Greensboro. Some Apple addicts will page through this whole roll of pics online, he said.

All three muttered under their breath as one shopper after another left fingerprints on the floor-to-ceiling glass-front facade of the store.

Auer and Meyer daydreamed about Jobs flying in on a stainless steel chopper just for the opening.

And they waited for the moment when store employees throw open the glass doors and welcome them in to warm their toes.

"I'm going to hug someone," Auer said.

Contact Amanda Lehmert at 373-7075 or amanda.lehmert@news-record.com