The things you have to do to get an ipad2 these days

thanks everyone..

its taking a while to sync everything up and i'm doing the 4.3.1 update at the same time.

one strange thing i am noticing is even though it's plugged into the computer it says its not charging,odd

a.j.c. said:

On my way home now
Bought a grey smart cover

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Congrats on the purchase. You'll enjoy the Smart Cover.

thanks!

and i think i just realized my computer won't charge it..only plug in

Nice pics!! Thanks for sharing them. You are going to really enjoy your new "toy". Congrats.

Yes, congrats on getting it. I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

Thanks for the pics.

- Nick

I see a lot of turned heads in the iPad line photo. I see what you mean by angry looks.

Thanks for taking the pictures and braving the customers!

Wow! That's early to line up. I know I saw at least 50 people in line this morning at our Apple Store around 7:45am. I'm sure the front of the line people had been there since really early. Amazing people are still lining up for it.

I find it interesting that it says "iPad" on the back and not "iPad 2". But I guess it makes sense. "These are our iPads. These are our iPods." Yeah, I can see why they did it now...

It's VERY interesting to hear how many & how early folks are STILL lining up at Apple Stores for the iPad 2 weeks later after the launch.

I'm betting that someone or "someone's" at Apple are learning from this...and probably realizing that Apple wayyyy under estimated or underproduced the number of iPad 2's needed for the launch. Of course with a very aggressive iPad 2 launch timeline...Apple may not have had much of a choice.

- Nick

Up here in Canada we have a better system just started this week and I luckily found out about it yesterday. At 9pm you go online to Apple's website and choose the store you want to pick it up at. They post whatever inventory they have and you purchase it to pick it up the next day.
I got the iPad I wanted this way and cancelled the online order I had for delivery April 22. So now I have my 64gb iPad 2 3G!! I am so excited, with one exception. I have to go in tonight for 3 nights work and can't really play with it til then. But Friday when I wake up I will be getting it all ready. Maybe I will have received my SGP screen protector in the mail by then. I still have to wait for UPS for my red leather smart cover and wireless keyboard. All the stores I have been in are out of the red leather smart covers. Must be popular around here. Hmmmm. Woo Hoo!

MacLicious said:

Up here in Canada we have a better system just started this week and I luckily found out about it yesterday. At 9pm you go online to Apple's website and choose the store you want to pick it up at. They post whatever inventory they have and you purchase it to pick it up the next day.

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Darn Canadians...so organized and civil!!!

Overall it sounds like a better system. Hopefully there aren't too many folks ordering them at 9pm...and not picking them up the next day.

- Nick

MacLicious said:

Up here in Canada we have a better system just started this week and I luckily found out about it yesterday. At 9pm you go online to Apple's website and choose the store you want to pick it up at. They post whatever inventory they have and you purchase it to pick it up the next day.

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That's sorta how Best Buy is doing their iPads. My mother wasn't happy with her white iPad, so she placed a deposit down for a black one and got it less than two weeks later.

a.j.c. said:

thanks!

and i think i just realized my computer won't charge it..only plug in

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Actually, your computer will charge the iPad, just not when the iPad's screen is on.

Congrats on your purchase. Waiting three hours in line so early in the morning is a lot of dedication.

thanks..

to be honest i am 50/50 on the smart cover...

i like how it clips onto the ipad and the fact that it turns into a stand..great idea

however it always seems to raise a little in the middle when i am holding it or carrying it causing the ipad to turn on then off then on then off..and even when it was on my seat in the car face down every now and then i could hear the ipad locking itself meaning it must have turned on..

i do like that there is a setting to turn it off and thats exactly what i did

I had one on order, but decided to wait in line to get one faster.

At my local store they had (and probably still have) people lining up as early as 4am. I got to my store at 6 and was probably 5th in line. The mall people were good enough to let us in the mall at 6:30. Employees handed out tickets around 7:30 and told us we should stay in line, but if we had to leave we could come back as late as 8pm to claim our iPad.

To me this seemed perfectly fair and even helpful to people who want to buy because it's still the first come, first serve as the signs say plus it's helpful for people who want to buy, but still need to go to work. Imagine being 30th in line and getting your ticket at 7:30, but then having to hang out in the line until after 9am (probably an hour or more) just to buy what you have already waited in line for and been promised.

This ticket and come back method is much more customer friendly and nothing like the "fast pass" concept someone else mentioned, as that implied people in line were cut in front of. The people in line paid their dues by coming early and waiting, why torture them even more by making them stand there longer? The employees were very good about informing the entire line when they were out of tickets, so nobody was left waiting and wondering.

I could not agree more,in fact I actually had a lot of fun and the apple employees were great.

It was one of the most pleasurable buying experiences I ever had

I guesss I am lucky. I got mine on the first day : )

I just called and they reserved for me

pigoo3 said:

What happens if someone shows up at the store at 10am (normal opening time)...and wants an iPad 2. They ask the first employee they see..."Hey...I'd like to purchase an iPad 2." And the employee responds..."Well...we gave out 30 tickets this morning at 8am...but not everyone has claimed their's yet. Come back at 11am (when the tickets expire)...and we'll see what we have left."

Hmmm...somehow this doesn't seem right.

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Actually, using the ticket method it actually gives the late comers a little more hope. Here's what I'm thinking:

There are 100 people standing in line and the store only has 60 iPads. That means people #61-100 shouldn't get one. If they do it the old fashioned way just sell them to the people as soon as the store opens then #61-100 still won't get one. They'll go home empty handed.

By giving out tickets, people #61-100 still have the outside chance of getting an iPad at 11:00. It may be slim, but they still have a better chance than if no tickets were given out at all.

The only down side is that it is possible that someone comes at 11:05 for the first time and still gets an iPad while person #64 who was in line at 8:40 doesn't.

AUZambo said:

By giving out tickets, people #61-100 still have the outside chance of getting an iPad at 11:00. It may be slim, but they still have a better chance than if no tickets were given out at all.

The only down side is that it is possible that someone comes at 11:05 for the first time and still gets an iPad while person #64 who was in line at 8:40 doesn't.

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You're being a little bit positive. What if person #61 was in line at 6am (instead of 8:40am)...decides to stick around until 11:05am...and still doesn't get one. That's 5 hours and 5 minutes in line...and no iPad.

I still think that it would be better if (in your example) the first 60 people who got tickets stayed in line until 9am. If all 60 people with tickets get their iPads...then everyone else in line (person #61 & beyond) can go home at 9:30am...instead of 11:05am.

Alternatively, if all ticket holders stay in line...and if at the last minute person #27 decides NOT to get an iPad...and person #61 wants the iPad model #27 was going to get...then person #61 gets an iPad at 9am.

- Nick

MacbPro said:

I guesss I am lucky. I got mine on the first day : )

I just called and they reserved for me

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I'm not sure how you managed that. Did you have to slip the employee a $50 or something?? They're lucky they didn't get fired for it.