Lines for launch of Apple's new iPad declared 'better than expected' - Page 2

Look at it this way the iPad 4 will be as big a step as the 3, that doesn't make the 3 a bad buy or a bad upgrade. It is really a question of is your current device good enough for you. Maybe it is or isn't but it cuts at their credibility to make absolute statements.

The lines are better? Awesome! Ill go grab one easily then.

I hope I understand what makes a line better instead of worse. The line at the grocery checkout yesterday was terrible.

I doubt these Fox News anchors are using it for major gaming or content creation so I'd love to know what they think it's lacking. Had one of them said 'the iPad 2 display is good enough for me' or something like that I could understand. But their comments came across more as its just a minor upgrade so not worth it. That's why I ask what would make it a major upgrade? Do they consider it a minor upgrade because there was no redesign?

And my iPad is sitting in a UPS warehouse 3000 miles away because UPS thinks that 19 March is a much more suitable delivery date.

Maybe there is a better alignment of the moon in Mars...

I waited in line for the iPhone 4 on its release date. It was actually kind of fun. I showed up at 6 AM (or was it 5?) at the Apple Store in downtown Portland. There were about 50 people in line and I thought "Huh. So much for the hype." And then I realized the line didn't end at the entrance to the mall. It snaked around the block. There were hundreds of people waiting at that one store, and the scene was being repeated across the country, as we all remember I'm sure.

It felt like a party with so many people coming together for the same reason, and everyone seemed glad to be there. We were all chatting with strangers and laughing. People were running in shifts to anyplace nearby that had food. I've been an Apple fan for nearly 20 years, and I felt glad to soak up a bit of the excitement of the new Apple during one of its biggest days yet. But as I walked home with my awesome new iPhone in my hand, I passed the FedEx guy coming out of my building.

And that's why I pre-order.

YO, FEDEX. WHERE THE F (E-D-E-X) ARE YOU?!?!?!?!

Honestly this is the most ridiculous story I've ever read. One dipshit analyst counts the number of people in line then totally ignores the numbers to predict what he presumably wanted to predict in the first place. If you can't find the evidence to justify your claims just make it up.

However much people don't like to hear it, I suspect that a lot of folks have an iPad 2 and are more than happy with it. They don't want to drop another 600 quid to upgrade.

I read stories saying the lines were good, others saying the lines were less than last year or dwindled away quickly once the store opened. Of course it will break all sales records, they always do, but it will interesting to see the sales numbers in 2 or 3 months time.

My guess is that when you ordered apple store said ships on Mar 19. This is probably dictated to UPS and Fed Ex by Apple and not at freight co discretion. Today they are working on the Mar 16 hard delivery orders. Good news is that if you ordered today it says ships in 2 -3 weeks.

There is the chance he was initially slated for delivery today but was one of the engraved iPads that got delayed.

Maybe people just don't feel the need to upgrade their iOS products every year now. You wouldn't upgrade your computer every year. The economy is still hurting and people have less money to spend. There is always more hype around a new product but once it's been around for a few years that tends to dampen down. I'm not sure my eyesight is good enough these days to really notice that much difference between the iPad 2 and the iPad 3 screen. I certainly dont think its enough to make me want to drop 600 quid to upgrade.

What would make you upgrade?

By the time I got to the Thousand Oaks CA store at 8:30, the line was gone, maybe 25 people standing around with their white bags, chatting and trying to prolong a good time. Store guy says they have a lot left in stock. FUD-mongers will say it's "disappointing," then Apple will announce they sold 3 million over the weekend. I think they have been building supply for months. This is a Tim Cook supply-chain job.

Oh, and the screen is amazing. I looked at some 3D stills on Brian May's website using his Owl stereoscope, which magnifies maybe 2X, and I could barely see the pixels. Can't see them at all with no magnification. So ir's side-by-side 3D ready, IMO. Anti-pixel purists might still scoff and prefer film, but the lit-from-behind brilliance of the colors puts this kind of photographic display in a class by itself. Just in time, because Kodachrome is gone.

Oh no! The new screen makes me see jagged pixels on every other screen in my house.

Stood in line. I enjoyed it. Line was much shorter than iPad 2. I had forgotten that the iPad 2 launch didn't have preorders, so that explains it for me. Also, the early hours. I stood in line for much longer last year. I suspect people will be able to pick up the midrange and low range models any time today at many locations, maybe even into the weekend a bit.

I'm not getting a new one this year. I got one for my in-laws and picked up an Apple TV and MacBook power adapter for my household. My father-in-law wanted the 64GB Verizon 4G and hadn't decided until I was in line, so there's a decent reason for standing in line, I guess.

I've had a chance to enjoy it at home before I give it to him so here's some impressions:
Already mentioned that the screen is putting my other screens to shame. Even my iPhone 4 makes photos look drab compared to it. The resolution has that same "retina effect" that the iPhone 4 has. If you hadn't told me, I'd have suspected a much closer DPI between the two than the figures suggest.

The camera was nice, and my father-in-law has no shame about using it for that purpose, so he should be pleased. He likes the giant viewfinder and now that the camera quality is much higher I'm seeing the attraction. You are seeing much more detail while taking pictures and making videos. It's pretty cool.

Viewing photos is interesting, as well. I was zooming in photos with iPhoto and was a little disappointed at how little zoom it took to see the detail go away in the image. Then, it dawned on me how much detail there was in the image before zooming. The old zoom-to-see-the-detail is MUCH less necessary on this thing and I had to break the habit a bit. It's much easier and more natural to just take a closer look at it like a printed photo. The detail is there.

Text was crisp and beautiful as expected and Apple's website is now a paradigm that very few sites will match for a long time when viewed on the new iPad.

The worst part is that I took that image quality for granted VERY quickly and now my natural expectations are not met with all the screens I used to love. Even my brand new 1080P projector showing at 110" now shows me all the compression artifacts and inaccurate edges (mostly when showing still imagery) that were easier to overlook before. For the first time, I can actually see the value in 4k formats in the future...

Anyway, very nice device but I'm going to go and try to forget it exists for a year or so while I try to be responsible with our money.

Silly me, about 11 AM local time there came the buzz from downstairs... my smiling FedEx guy tossing off the "you and about a million others" as he handed me my box.

Same here. Mine just arrived and the guy made a similar comment. All I said as I opened the door was "Yay." and he said "Yeah, I'm hearing a lot of that today. I've got tons of these." Now, I'm sitting here watching the progress bar in iTunes as it shows my previous iPad's backup being installed. I'm so glad I went with a 64 gig iPad this time.

Correct, the lines being "better" only says something about the lines themselves, there's nothing to extrapolate given every other variable has changed. Apple has already said it's beaten the launch of the previous iPad, so what else needs to be said?


The lines are still long though, despite record preorders and much wider retail distribution. In all, it's better for both buyers and investors.


It could mean they're content with what they have. Non-techies might not have technolust. If nothing else though, you'd think they'd want it for the much crisper display.


Can you see the difference between an iPhone 4/4s and a previous model? If yes, then you'll see the difference on the new vs. old iPads.

No one has to upgrade every year. I still use the first version, the new display makes it worth seriously considering. I figure I'll wait until the hubub has died down a bit and try a store display model.

Believe it or not, they actually have pretty good models of the various stores and their percentage of total retail sales. Looking at five lines can give them a pretty good idea how many will sell that day.

What they can't model as easily (from what I can tell) is fundamental changes. This time around, the more global rollout, wider domestic retail distribution, and of course the pre-orders.

It sure seems like FQ2 will have over 5MM third-generation iPads, along with a healthy number of iPad 2's. I'm guessing we are looking at a month before supply catches up. The larger quantity of wholesale iPads might bump the numbers up dramatically.

Be patient.

FedEx showed up right in time, in the middle of the delivery window. He did mention that while he had about 50 on board, some had hundreds. #thankthebunnygodfororegonmicrobrew

Opened the box, stuffed in the Apple mag cover, re-taped and gift-wrapped for the galpal. Patience comes in handy under these extreme first-world stressful moments.

But how many are we talking about. 10%, 1%, 1/10th of a percent.

All electronics of this complexity will have issues no matter what company makes them. Folks like to make out like Apple has huge issues when they rarely are as bad as the stories claim. And they aren't any worse than every other product

A "delivery exception" means they can't just hurl the box from the curb toward the general direction of the address. It takes longer to deliver their load of iPads this way, hence, the reason you're still waiting.

They seem to be the type that think if it isn't as powerful as a laptop for no more than a couple of hundred bucks it is crap.

Back then you also didn't have any snarky idiots with Samsung Notes hanging around the lines showing off their bad penmanship...

They were on Fox News, their "credibility" is already cut...

What in the world would make Martha Stewart Cookies to be larger than the sum of ALL of the programs in this list?

Good Grief!!!

No.
I honestly think the average person is going to run out and buy one simply because it is a new iPad.

love how they got the Apple employees clapping and making all the excitement. It's like a live concert event to try and get the excitement levels up.

Went to the Apple store this morning, but didn't feel like waiting in line longer than 10 minutes.

Went to Best Buy. No line, but the rep said they sold out of the 40 white ones they got the previous day. Black and 3G models were still available, but every minute I was in there had a person buy one, so they were moving fast.

This is my first iPad. It makes me hate looking at every other monitor in my house.

I bought all three Black 64GB ATT on day one. Still have both the first two. I read a survey this week that says half the owners of old iPads will buy the new one within the first 90 days of availability. So the poster who thinks it's only for new customers is mistaken.

In hong kong where the grey market of importing Apple products to china , the grey importer profit Is weaker than iPad 2 because people in china who were used to buy apple products to show their rich off aren’t interested in the new iPad coz of its external design is the same as iPad 2 .

I really doubt if Apple makes the shortage on purpose . I am worried the sales of the new iPad as an Apple shareholder .

I live in hong kong and work in part of the grey market

I don't buy that the same case design is a problem, there is some history or other recent news that you're not considering that shows it generally doesn't prevent the newer model from easily outselling the previous one.

Not only is the new model handily beating iPad 2 sales with record preorders (see here), also, the 3Gs had beaten the 3G, and 4s beat the 4, all despite having the same general device design and no externally distinguishing feature except the tiny label on the back. The screen difference is a lot easier to spot than the identifying label.

Sure, the grey market is a part of the picture, but it's not the whole picture or necessarily a bellwether.

Something else that doesn't fit is the screen is such an obvious tell whether someone really has the latest version or not. The iPhones that used the same case didn't have the benefit of something so obviously improved that it's easy to see with a short glance.