i know there’s this pledge system, but i haven’t really looked into it, i think you’d save yourself a lot of hassle if you got it yourself

There’s a few roadblocks standing in the way of your plan. First off, they will start a new policy with the iPhone 3G where it will be very hard to buy them as gifts. You will be required to activate the phone before leaving the store. So your son won’t simply be able to walk in and buy one and walk out- he’ll actually have to give account info right then and there. Secondly, in order to port your phone number, they will require your presence in order to get your permission. Otherwise anybody could just steal your number and cancel out your Verizon account, you know?

Maybe there’s some loophole that will allow you to do what you want, but AT&T and Apple are intentionally requiring in-store activation to curb the unlockers out there, and people like you are going to fall victim to the new policy.

I don’t know for sure, but you might be able to give your information to the Apple, or At&t people over the phone, as long as you agree to have your son be the physical body there signing stuff. In other words, as long as you can be reached, and you can give your info to the sales associate, they should have no problem letting your son purchase the phone for you.

Set up a power of attorney.

But why the over-eagerness?

Apple (and AT&T) demonstrated that with the first iPhone that they had plenty in stock for everyone and that there was little need to wait in line, other than for the sheer geekiness of the experience. There’s no reason to expect otherwise this time around.

July 11 falls on a Friday. If you’re at work that day, might you be able to go in yourself Saturday or Sunday?

Verizon phones do not use SIM cards, so even if you could buy an iPhone without having to activate it in the store, there is no way to use your Verizon contract with it. Furthermore, T-Mobile subscribers might still find a way to get their hands on an iPhone 3G, but there’s really no point because the new iPhone does not have a chip to allow it to use T-Mobile’s 3G network, which uses a different part of the radio spectrum than AT&T’s.

The only way to get am iPhone without am AT&T contract is to buy a first-generation phone and unlock it.