Affiliate Disclosure
If you buy through our links, we may get a commission. Read our ethics policy.

Steve Jobs' first iPhone call still spawns Starbucks pranks 6 years later

In a moment of levity during the iPhone's 2007 introduction, Steve Jobs prank called a San Francisco-area Starbucks; six years later, some Apple fans are pulling the same joke with some regularity.

Demonstrating the just-revealed iPhone's ability to map locations and call them, the late Apple cofounder dropped a line to a Starbucks near the Moscone West Center where Apple's event was being held. As seen at about the five-minute mark in the above video, a young barista, Ying Hang "Hannah" Zhang, answered the phone, and Jobs jokingly ordered "4,000 lattes to go, please."

Fast Company tracked down Zhang, who still works at the same Starbucks. The barista recalled her brief phone encounter with Jobs.

"Honestly, I was shocked," Zhang said, "I have never heard somebody order 4,000 lattes to go. I didn't say anything because I was shocked. But my first impression was that he was just being humorous. He sounded like a gentleman."

According to Zhang, the store has become something of a pilgrimage site for some hard core Apple fans.

"Customers would sometimes come up to me and go, 'Did you know somebody at your store actually talked to Steve Jobs?'"

And Jobs' prank call lives on, Zhang says. Apple fans will still, six years later, call up the Starbucks where she works, asking for 4,000 lattes.

"After he made the call," Zhang explained, "everyone copied him, prank calling our store and ordering thousands of lattes — to this day!"

The wait time for such a large latte order? Zhang and her estimated it takes about 44 seconds to make a single latte. Assuming no breaks and an ample supply of milk, Jobs' order would've taken 48 hours to fill.