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JRoDDz

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jul 2, 2009
1,960
215
NYC
All you naysayers that said there would be no lines, plenty of stock, 2nd gen product, everyone already has one etc. Well.. you were wrong. The Apple store I went to had about 400-500 people when 5 o'clock hit. Luckily I was # 72 in line :) and was able to score my iPad. So how does that crow taste?
 
Surely this day will go down in history as the first time people on an internet forum speculated incorrectly.
 
I hope you noticed there was something very different with this launch... Something one would say was intentionally left out in order to create these long lines... Some lesson perhaps learned from the Verizon launch???.... Think about it.
 
Artificial lines

Imagine if the iPad 2 had started selling from the time stores opened instead of 5pm local time. Do you think there would have still been lines?
 
I walked into a Best Buy mobile at the Carlsbad mall here in San Diego at 5pm and not a single person waiting for the iPad2. In and out in 5 minutes. I wasn't planning on buying one but they had them in stock and no line so what the heck.
 
Here is an interesting piece of information from Bloomberg:

When Apple Inc. (AAPL) releases a product, the store lines are typically led by fanboys clamoring to be first with the latest gadget. At the downtown San Francisco store for the iPad 2 debut, the gray market got there first.

Dennis Ng, 20, said he was being paid $10 an hour to arrive before 5 a.m. on the day Apple began selling the device at its stores. He said he was in a group of about 35 mostly Chinese immigrants at the front of the line, waiting to buy the iPad for somebody else. Resales of new electronics in countries where they’re not yet available feed the so-called gray market.
 
Here is an interesting piece of information from Bloomberg:

When Apple Inc. (AAPL) releases a product, the store lines are typically led by fanboys clamoring to be first with the latest gadget. At the downtown San Francisco store for the iPad 2 debut, the gray market got there first.

Dennis Ng, 20, said he was being paid $10 an hour to arrive before 5 a.m. on the day Apple began selling the device at its stores. He said he was in a group of about 35 mostly Chinese immigrants at the front of the line, waiting to buy the iPad for somebody else. Resales of new electronics in countries where they’re not yet available feed the so-called gray market.

Am I the only one that finds Bloomberg's use of the term fanboy hysterical?
 
I'd be there too if I was being paid $10 an hour to just stand/sit there for twelve hours!Easiest $120 ever!
 
All you naysayers that said there would be no lines, plenty of stock, 2nd gen product, everyone already has one etc. Well.. you were wrong. The Apple store I went to had about 400-500 people when 5 o'clock hit. Luckily I was # 72 in line :) and was able to score my iPad. So how does that crow taste?

We are very happy you were able to wait in line ... you rock
 
Not supporting or discounting the OP. The Apple store I went to had 300-350 people easily and I don't live in NY or some other big city. I got pictures. Sold out of all AT&T iPads in first hour and half. A few units of Verizon available when I finally left about 7:15. My wife had called around to other retailers (3 Best Buy, 2 Target, 3 Wal-Mart) on the fly in case we didn't get what we wanted. They all indicated they had lines when they opened and were sold out. Luckily, I got what I wanted.
 
the Best Buy i went to only had 100 ppl at its maximum. everyone in the line got the BB tickets. when i walked out the store with my iPad around 6pm, there were only 20 ppl left in the line waiting to enter the store. now Apple stores on the other hand are totally different.
 
100 people at a random best buy for a single product release isnt exactly common. Pretty much only for.. some videogames and other apple products?

Best buy, wal-mart, target, verizon wireless... there are thousands of these stores. Low numbers at each adds up fast. + the apple stores themselves.
 
A 100 people at a random best buy for a single product release isnt exactly common. Pretty much only for.. some videogames and other apple products?

i was surprised too. i passed by there around 2pm and saw there were only 10, 15 ppl there. when i went there at 4pm, it was 100 tops. this was near a busy intersection in city of Anaheim, CA.
 
I walked into a Best Buy mobile at the Carlsbad mall here in San Diego at 5pm and not a single person waiting for the iPad2. In and out in 5 minutes. I wasn't planning on buying one but they had them in stock and no line so what the heck.

Which one?? The westfield on marron?? I live 2 mins away fm that place. I will check it out tomm..
 
All you naysayers that said there would be no lines, plenty of stock, 2nd gen product, everyone already has one etc. Well.. you were wrong. The Apple store I went to had about 400-500 people when 5 o'clock hit. Luckily I was # 72 in line :) and was able to score my iPad. So how does that crow taste?

You actually took the time to make this thread? Wow.
 
Which one?? The westfield on marron?? I live 2 mins away fm that place. I will check it out tomm..

That's the one. They only had 5 in stock but I was the only one there that purchased at the time so if you're lucky, they might still have 1 or 2 available.
 
No lines here op but thanks for creating the thread.
I was one of the "this isnt going to be like the iPhone4" people and while I noticed lots of people asking whats going on, I waited 2 1/2hrs but only 25people bought. The process did take a while because they push those warranties so hard but I was done by 5:20p. Was it really that bad in other areas?
 
The best buy I went to really didn't have much of a line until after 4. If you were there by 4, you got an iPad. And the line got a little crazy right at 5 (100 people?). One guy that showed up after 5 got a bit miffed but many people walked out with iPads.
 
While I like the Mac, and I sometimes find SJ over the top in his over-enthusiasm with devices in the past few years, his statement of the majority of Apple's revenue and income from devices seemed suspect. But if the hype and lines of people are any indication of the up 80.3% percent quarterly revenue (Macworld, WSJ, and others) of iDevices for Apple, iPad2 will only increase that margin. He may use the term, "post personal computer" regarding the iPad, but this time I think he's right.

For the devices, I think this is great news, and while the launch presentation was SJ at his very best, I don't know what this does for the future of Mac as we know it. It appears iPad can eventually morph into the chief computer product for Apple and if it gets OS X, be the next generation mobile computer for them.

I think Garage Band and iMovie, at five bucks extra, the great magnetic cover, the low price in this recession, as well as HDMI capability, give this product a worthiness to have lines outside the store far beyond the MBP refresh.
 
Well, consider me called out because I thought for sure I'd get one with not one but TWO Apple stores in my area (Tampa). I went to the Tampa store at 5:30 and there must have been 500 people in line. Decided to go to dinner, and the line was down to 100 people by 7:30 but they were out of AT&T models. Went to the Brandon Apple store, and they were completely sold out. Called and checked several Best Buys, Targets, Walmarts, and even the big AT&T store on Dale Mabry, and I got nada. Zilch. Squat.

:cool:
 
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