This Friday at 8am the new iPad goes on sales in retail stores. Since I live in the boonies, the closest Apple store is 60+ miles away; I can either go to Pittsburgh or Cleveland.
I’ve hit two dead ends–the guy at the Apple store says I can’t order one online and pick it up at the local store (which is what I wanted to do since I have to work until 4pm), they won’t reserve any over the phone, and he has no clue how long the amount they are going to get will last (It could be just an hour).
Since Radio Shack will be selling them also, I called the local store. They can order me one starting Friday, but if I want one in person, I would have to travel to either Youngstown or Erie.
I’ll probably just order at the online Apple Store and wait, but does anyone want to share their wisdom on the best way to score an iPad over the weekend? (or even a funny story at this point to pass the time.)
If I decide I want one, I’ll wait a month or two when I can walk into a store and buy one w/o hassle.
seriously, what’s the attraction to lining up for hours/days to get one on launch day? You’re not going to be the first person to get one, and they won’t be scarce. Apple will be selling the iPad 3 for at least a year.
eta:
not a heck of a lot, but I’d imagine the higher density display might make reading e-books more pleasant.
If you must be a day-1 adopter, you must be there when they open. That would entail calling off work. If you’re not willing to do that, then you might have to settle for being a week-2 adopter.
Tell my procurement guy I have to have one by Friday afternoon and wait for him to post here about his crazy boss and asking how to get a new iPad on Friday.
My younger daughter is home on Spring Break this week, so if I really felt the need to gain these Geek points I woud have her camping out already. But I have gotten too damn old to play the “I got one before you did” game.
I ordered mine online when they were announced. According to the status page it shipped today and will arrive on my doorstep tomorrow morning.
The kids got our iPad 1’s when we upgraded to the 2’s and our parents are getting the 2’s later this month when we’ve finished setting up the new ones.
That’s a question only you can answer, really. How often will you need to use it for internet access (either through a web browser, for e-mail, or in one of your various apps) at a place where there is no WiFi access? If you get one with 3G/4G, will you have to sign up for a monthly plan?
If you get one with 3G/4G and sign up for a monthly plan, then add the monthly plan cost to the cost of your device. e.g. I am buying an iPad for $730 and a $20 monthly fee contract for two years for 3G/4G means that my iPad is costing me $970.
I plan on being a new iPad (my first one) because of the new interactive textbooks that Apple is publicizing. http://www.apple.com/education/ipad/ My dream is that my two kids will use it as a learning device, and not just as a bigger screen for playing Angry Birds or Plants vs. Zombies.
I won’t try getting one in the first week. I’ll buy it online (my wife gets an educators discount) and go pick it up in the store as soon as the production has caught up with the initial demand.
