Ok, I've put my $100 down at Best Buy with no joy (yet). I've read on the forum about other members' experiences trying to procure an Ipad2, and it seems few scored a pad after launch day.
Is it the greatest product launch of all time, or is this standard operating procedure for Apple? As this is my first attempt to buy an Apple product so close to launch, I have to wonder if this apparent shortage of product is normal.
If you're going to be at home, next time you go to buy something from Apple on day one, order it online for home delivery. Drama / obnoxious trip to an Apple Store avoided.
That said, in addition to being able to order online for home delivery, in the past, those with actual lives/jobs have been able to reserve online for in store pickup. One would then simply show up at the Apple Store on opening day and be queued up in a reservation holder line that moves quickly. You're out of there and back to reality in no time.
This has suited people like me (who travel for a living) well, as Apple won't deliver to any address other than my credit card's, so having an online order sent to my current/next hotel isn't an option. (Happened to be at home for the original iPad's debut and had one delivered to my front door on opening day.) For some inexplicable reason, this time they took away the ability to pre-order for in store pickup, opening the process / available inventory up to people who have nothing better to do than stand around in lines buying multiples to resell, or whatever.
I don't know why they chose to make things so difficult for so many people, but from Apple's point of view, a sale is a sale whether their products are being scalped, bought by loyal customers, or by average consumers.
Oh well, no biggie. I put in a reservation at a nearby Best Buy in the city I'm currently in. If they call before I'm off to my next hotel, cool. If not, no worries. My original iPad's still working fine.
