“I was one of those guys who lined up the first day it came out,” said David Coyle about his excitement when Apple released the iPhone the summer of 2007.

Two years later, he’s lining up behind more techies and a slew of novice programmers pitching applications — or “apps” — for the 4.7-ounce piece of plastic and glass that has seduced the entire gadget-loving world.

“They rejected it at first, but that’s not unusual,” said the 46 year-old computer consultant from Apex about his brainchild “Deckster,” a virtual card game he made in two months. “It only took me 20 minutes to make the changes they wanted.”

Coyle is one of many submitting programs to the online Apple store in hopes of fame, money or, in his case, an interesting challenge. “I wanted to take something everyone’s familiar with and duplicate it,” he said.

Not long after the iPhone release, CEO Steve Jobs announced he was looking for third-party applications, and would soon release a software kit to help anybody who wanted to give it a go. What he got back showed the strength of the world’s imaginations. Along with useful programs, silly ones like popping bubble wrap or fishing became huge hits. One game is summed up with the title “Pull My Finger.” And, as always, games are big sellers.

But Coyle hates computer card games.

“I have strong opinions about card play,” he said. “Namely, that people should be playing together, not against a machine.” He didn’t like how computer play negates strategy in what he sees as essentially a social game. He cites examples of people becoming online poker champions but getting creamed by real-life players.

“It is usually the case that you never learned anything about the game at all,” he said. “You just learned the patterns of the machine.”

Be that as it may, Coyle couldn’t help but notice something: The iPhone is approximately the size of a deck of cards. What would happen if he could duplicate what it’s like to handle a real deck of cards and play a real game?

The question dogged him, but he stuck with the concept. He bought 10 decks of cards as reference material. He picked them up and studied how his hands manipulated the deck. After two months of work and very little seed money, he was happy with the first result.

“You can play anything, except where you deal cards on the table, like gin rummy or solitaire,” he said.

The first screen shows a box that you have to open from the top, grasping the iPhone like a real deck of cards. You can shuffle by shaking the phone. The screen shows your hand in your actual hand. You discard or add cards with the flick of your finger.

“It’s almost a piece of conceptual art, really,” he said.

Selling at 99 cents per download, Coyle will only see 70 percent of those profits. Since its Memorial Day debut, he said sales aren’t what he had anticipated, but he’s learned some lessons.

“When you submit your app, put the release date in the future,” he advised fellow programmers. “Then when it’s approved, change it to the next day.” This way, your product will show up on the “what’s new” area of the Apple store for at least a short time.

There are over 36,000 apps online, ranging in price from free to upwards of $5 per download. In April, Apple announced its billionth worldwide download. Coyle is already talking about the next generation of “Dexter,” which will include card tricks and fancier shuffling features.

“Once you think about it long enough, you figure out a way to do it,” he said.

Maybe that’s what college dropout Steve Jobs was thinking over 30 years ago, tinkering with computers in his garage.

For Coyle’s computer consulting services, visit coylebilt.com.