If fanboys include young people, moms, dads, kids, whites, blacks, hispanics, asians, grandmas, grandpas, hot chicks, fat chicks, bald dudes, old peeps in cains and walkers, punk rockers, emo kids, heavy metal dudes, dude who looks like Bill Gates, dudes in power suit and tie, blondes, brunettes, you name it, then Apple fanboyism has become really diversified coz those are all the type of people I saw standing in line for the iPad 2..
man, you should have taken a picture of the dude who looked like bill gates waiting in line for an ipad2... it just might have been bill gates!
Not sure if I was the only one who ran into problems at Best Buy. I was ~25 in line. They came outside and took a tally of what model everyone wanted. It seemed they had everything ready to go. Right before 5pm they let us in the store.
Between 5 and 5:50 only 5-6 customers had been checked out. I expected this to go a lot faster and eventually asked an employee what was taking so long. He said that the 16GB wifi models were coming up as the wifi+3G models instead. He told me it was a quick fix and they would be running faster in a few minutes and also open 2 additional registers. This never happened so I had to leave my spot in line because I had somewhere to be. I mean I expected to be late but at the pace they were going I wasn't going to check out until 10pm.
Would this have been a specific store problem or a company wide problem?
At one of the few SF penisula Apple stores (the one in Burlingame), the stock of iPad2s was so poor that after waiting in line 5 hrs with only 150 people in front of me when the doors reopened at 5pm (with a max of 2 units purchased per person), I went home empty handed because the 2 people in front of me bought the last 32 Mb Wifi only models. All 16Mb models were sold out well before I got to the front and there were only a few 64Mb (overkill) models with 3G left when I got to the front.
I was not amused and think the 500+ people behind me were similarly annoyed. If I had known that they'd be stocking their own stores with so few a stock I would have ordered online and saved a day waiting in line.
This is a very poor lauch. Yes, they can say they had long lines but if you can't meet at least most of the demand, what is the point. You just piss people off. I think they just lost a customer. This may just be a sign I should save my money
NOpe, that is an incredibly successful launch - they sold all the units they had available. This is the nature of the real world, there are only finite resources, first come - first served. You might have to (shock horror) wait a little while longer.
I do feel your pain thought. But this isn't poor planning or preparation. Apple's aim was to sell as many units as they could manufacture, they appear to have done this.
Not sure if I was the only one who ran into problems at Best Buy. I was ~25 in line. They came outside and took a tally of what model everyone wanted. It seemed they had everything ready to go. Right before 5pm they let us in the store.
Between 5 and 5:50 only 5-6 customers had been checked out. I expected this to go a lot faster and eventually asked an employee what was taking so long. He said that the 16GB wifi models were coming up as the wifi+3G models instead. He told me it was a quick fix and they would be running faster in a few minutes and also open 2 additional registers. This never happened so I had to leave my spot in line because I had somewhere to be. I mean I expected to be late but at the pace they were going I wasn't going to check out until 10pm.
Would this have been a specific store problem or a company wide problem?
At one of the few SF penisula Apple stores (the one in Burlingame), the stock of iPad2s was so poor that after waiting in line 5 hrs with only 150 people in front of me when the doors reopened at 5pm (with a max of 2 units purchased per person), I went home empty handed because the 2 people in front of me bought the last 32 Mb Wifi only models. All 16Mb models were sold out well before I got to the front and there were only a few 64Mb (overkill) models with 3G left when I got to the front.
I was not amused and think the 500+ people behind me were similarly annoyed. If I had known that they'd be stocking their own stores with so few a stock I would have ordered online and saved a day waiting in line.
This is a very poor lauch. Yes, they can say they had long lines but if you can't meet at least most of the demand, what is the point. You just piss people off. I think they just lost a customer. This may just be a sign I should save my money
You'll get it and you'll love it! I'm very happy with my iPad 2 purchase. They will have more today anyway so go back to the store. Last time they told me they didn't have it and they called two days later and by then I had flown to Denver and gotten my iPad.
I got in line (Pentagon City Store) around 3:30. Employees were working the line and assured everyone they would be able to get an iPad, although they didn't know which model. There were at least 200-250 people in line in front of me. They sold out of the AT&T models pretty quickly - go figure! They had plenty of stock of all the other models when I got mine. The line kept growing, though. I'm sure they sold out. Probably close to 1000 had purchased, were purchasing, or were in line when I was done - around 6:45. I got the model I wanted, and it went pretty well - all things considered.
At one of the few SF penisula Apple stores (the one in Burlingame), the stock of iPad2s was so poor that after waiting in line 5 hrs with only 150 people in front of me when the doors reopened at 5pm (with a max of 2 units purchased per person), I went home empty handed because the 2 people in front of me bought the last 32 Mb Wifi only models. All 16Mb models were sold out well before I got to the front and there were only a few 64Mb (overkill) models with 3G left when I got to the front.
I was not amused and think the 500+ people behind me were similarly annoyed. If I had known that they'd be stocking their own stores with so few a stock I would have ordered online and saved a day waiting in line.
This is a very poor lauch. Yes, they can say they had long lines but if you can't meet at least most of the demand, what is the point. You just piss people off. I think they just lost a customer. This may just be a sign I should save my money
A disappointing experience for sure. I know it must have sucked to wait that long and not be able to buy the one you wanted.
At the Apple store in Shadyside/Pittsburgh. They handed out tickets that ensured that at least being able to buy one of the models. Then an employee surveyed and tallied buying intentions of everyone in line. I assume that they were doing this to be able to notify people at the end of the line which models would be sold out by the time they made it into the store.
I thought that was an incredibly courteous way to treat their customers!
I think iPad sales will overtake iPhone sales in a year or so. The iPad is the real revolutionary product. The iPhone will eventually be seen as just a phone with a subset of iPad functionality. Not everybody needs the Internet and apps in their pocket, but everyone needs the Internet and apps. The product that everybody said was a pointless toy is, in actuality, computing coming of age. The world will remember that its arrival was met with a howl of rage from IT nerds while the lines consisted of people, old and young, from every walk of life.
Don't paint all IT nerds with the same brush. I think the vast majority have heralded the iPad as revolutionary. The lines I witnessed were full of nerds.
A disappointing experience for sure. I know it must have sucked to wait that long and not be able to buy the one you wanted.
At the Apple store in Shadyside/Pittsburgh. They handed out tickets that ensured that at least being able to buy one of the models. Then an employee surveyed and tallied buying intentions of everyone in line. I assume that they were doing this to be able to notify people at the end of the line which models would be sold out by the time they made it into the store.
I thought that was an incredibly courteous way to treat their customers!
Courteous yes to take a vote on models and let people know if they were getting low on stock-- if that is what they actually did!!
I waited in Boston for 4 hours, made it all the way into the store and talking to an apple server before he told me that all 3G ATT were sold out. Now I know the guy in front of me was not the last to buy one.... so why on earth could they not have had the decency to come through the remaining line and let us know
I'm not furious they sold out-- Apple has the right to that success. I'm furious that they had so many employees working the line, had more than one going down the line asking what you were going to purchase (yes theres an app for that) and then NOT USING THAT INFORMATION TO KEEP THE PURCHASING PUBLIC INFORMED!
I was at the Apple SoHo line which early on had over 90% old Asian people and I saw one fellow giving hundred dollar bills to one woman - he was walking the line. I spoke to an Apple employee pointing out the obvious - these people where not going to run home and download apps - they seem to know this full well. I was told after doors opened that the 16gig 3G white had sold out and had to get the 64 model but these clear exporters / shills in huge numbers (over 100 easily in front of me) really cheesed me off and Apple seems to no longer care as they are accepting cash now.
I went to my local apple store and waiteD for 10hrs. I was #3. in that time the line grew to over 400. A little over half those actualy got an iPad yesterday. I saw a guy offer this kid $200 just for his spot in line.
Courteous yes to take a vote on models and let people know if they were getting low on stock-- if that is what they actually did!!
I waited in Boston for 4 hours, made it all the way into the store and talking to an apple server before he told me that all 3G ATT were sold out. Now I know the guy in front of me was not the last to buy one.... so why on earth could they not have had the decency to come through the remaining line and let us know
I'm not furious they sold out-- Apple has the right to that success. I'm furious that they had so many employees working the line, had more than one going down the line asking what you were going to purchase (yes theres an app for that) and then NOT USING THAT INFORMATION TO KEEP THE PURCHASING PUBLIC INFORMED!
Very poor launch Apple. Shame on you.
What do mean "if that is what they actually did"? Why else would they hand out tickets and tally buying intentions of the line? Seriously, for what other reason would they hand out tickets and doing a survey? They could easily kick back and just look at the sales without doing any of that.
Your only valid complaint is that they didn't inform you quick enough of the sell out. Or perhaps you missed the announcements. You can't honestly believe that they let those 500 people behind you get to front of the line only to be disappointed. You can't honestly believe that the sales staff would sit there and be yelled at 500 times without bothering to make an announcement.
As for not having enough, what do you want them to do? Wave a magic wand?
This was about the best managed product launch I've ever seen. Sidewalks were taped off. It was scheduled for 5pm so that people weren't waiting in the cold and darkness. Extra security was on hand. They handed out tickets and did a survey. They handed out free refreshments. I quite enjoyed the coffee cart that came around. Every customer received a dedicated sales person upon entering the store and my entire transaction took 90 seconds or less.
you missed the announcements or one guy forgot to make the announcement soon enough, and you've decided the entire launch was horrible? A little perspective please.
In what way? Firs iPad was an incredible success, iPad 2 also looks set to be, and it is simply an incremental update, with the exception of the cameras, there is nothing new here...
I have to admit that I am surprised as hell about this record lines. I just didn't feel the buzz like I did when iPad v1 was introduced.
Good for Apple. Intro of the Verizon iPhone, updated MBPs and now the intro of both black and white iPad 2... Another record quarter coming up! Buy your stock now while it's cheap!
I ordered a 64 Gigabyte Black WiFi model Friday morning online at the Apple Store. The delivery date estimation was March 18th at the earliest. Having sold my 1st Generation iPad the day before the iPad 2 announcement I've been jones'ing for an iPad.
March 18th was too long to wait.
I arrived at my local Best Buy around 2:45 PM Friday and joined the line at the back of the store with no more than 20 people ahead of me. By 3:30 PM there were about 20 people behind me. By 4:30 PM the line had hit the front of the store by the registers and wrapped around towards the entrance. Best Buy handed out vouchers for the models we wanted and tried to sell us on the Zagg Invisible Shields, their buy back program and warranty. They didn't have any of the leather smart cases only the polyurethane ones. The Best Buy employees were shocked by the line. A guy near me had a friend who worked at the store who had told him to show up around 4:20 PM. His Best Buy employee friend had told him he didn't need to show up early because they were going to have more than enough to meet demand. He was glad he hadn't listened. When I was ushered up to purchase my iPad around 5:20 PM the Best Buy employee who was running the show told one of the cashiers that he had sold out all 150 iPads they had on hand. The Best Buy employees were scrambling to open additional registers to handle the long line. This is at a Best Buy in mid-Michigan remember, not an affluent big city. I was blown away by the demand.
After playing with my new iPad my wife has decided to sell her 1st generation model so I'm not going to cancel my Apple Store order. I'm not sure if I'm going to sell it on eBay or just hand it down to my kids.
At one of the few SF penisula Apple stores (the one in Burlingame), the stock of iPad2s was so poor that after waiting in line 5 hrs with only 150 people in front of me when the doors reopened at 5pm (with a max of 2 units purchased per person), I went home empty handed because the 2 people in front of me bought the last 32 Mb Wifi only models. All 16Mb models were sold out well before I got to the front and there were only a few 64Mb (overkill) models with 3G left when I got to the front.
I was not amused and think the 500+ people behind me were similarly annoyed. If I had known that they'd be stocking their own stores with so few a stock I would have ordered online and saved a day waiting in line.
This is a very poor lauch. Yes, they can say they had long lines but if you can't meet at least most of the demand, what is the point. You just piss people off. I think they just lost a customer. This may just be a sign I should save my money
Don't kid yourself. You didn't wait in line that long to not buy one ASAP. I laugh when people threaten to not be a customer. hahahaha
Comments
If fanboys include young people, moms, dads, kids, whites, blacks, hispanics, asians, grandmas, grandpas, hot chicks, fat chicks, bald dudes, old peeps in cains and walkers, punk rockers, emo kids, heavy metal dudes, dude who looks like Bill Gates, dudes in power suit and tie, blondes, brunettes, you name it, then Apple fanboyism has become really diversified coz those are all the type of people I saw standing in line for the iPad 2..
man, you should have taken a picture of the dude who looked like bill gates waiting in line for an ipad2... it just might have been bill gates!
Between 5 and 5:50 only 5-6 customers had been checked out. I expected this to go a lot faster and eventually asked an employee what was taking so long. He said that the 16GB wifi models were coming up as the wifi+3G models instead. He told me it was a quick fix and they would be running faster in a few minutes and also open 2 additional registers. This never happened so I had to leave my spot in line because I had somewhere to be. I mean I expected to be late but at the pace they were going I wasn't going to check out until 10pm.
Would this have been a specific store problem or a company wide problem?
At one of the few SF penisula Apple stores (the one in Burlingame), the stock of iPad2s was so poor that after waiting in line 5 hrs with only 150 people in front of me when the doors reopened at 5pm (with a max of 2 units purchased per person), I went home empty handed because the 2 people in front of me bought the last 32 Mb Wifi only models. All 16Mb models were sold out well before I got to the front and there were only a few 64Mb (overkill) models with 3G left when I got to the front.
I was not amused and think the 500+ people behind me were similarly annoyed. If I had known that they'd be stocking their own stores with so few a stock I would have ordered online and saved a day waiting in line.
This is a very poor lauch. Yes, they can say they had long lines but if you can't meet at least most of the demand, what is the point. You just piss people off. I think they just lost a customer. This may just be a sign I should save my money
NOpe, that is an incredibly successful launch - they sold all the units they had available. This is the nature of the real world, there are only finite resources, first come - first served. You might have to (shock horror) wait a little while longer.
I do feel your pain thought. But this isn't poor planning or preparation. Apple's aim was to sell as many units as they could manufacture, they appear to have done this.
Not sure if I was the only one who ran into problems at Best Buy. I was ~25 in line. They came outside and took a tally of what model everyone wanted. It seemed they had everything ready to go. Right before 5pm they let us in the store.
Between 5 and 5:50 only 5-6 customers had been checked out. I expected this to go a lot faster and eventually asked an employee what was taking so long. He said that the 16GB wifi models were coming up as the wifi+3G models instead. He told me it was a quick fix and they would be running faster in a few minutes and also open 2 additional registers. This never happened so I had to leave my spot in line because I had somewhere to be. I mean I expected to be late but at the pace they were going I wasn't going to check out until 10pm.
Would this have been a specific store problem or a company wide problem?
A specific store problem.
At one of the few SF penisula Apple stores (the one in Burlingame), the stock of iPad2s was so poor that after waiting in line 5 hrs with only 150 people in front of me when the doors reopened at 5pm (with a max of 2 units purchased per person), I went home empty handed because the 2 people in front of me bought the last 32 Mb Wifi only models. All 16Mb models were sold out well before I got to the front and there were only a few 64Mb (overkill) models with 3G left when I got to the front.
I was not amused and think the 500+ people behind me were similarly annoyed. If I had known that they'd be stocking their own stores with so few a stock I would have ordered online and saved a day waiting in line.
This is a very poor lauch. Yes, they can say they had long lines but if you can't meet at least most of the demand, what is the point. You just piss people off. I think they just lost a customer. This may just be a sign I should save my money
You'll get it and you'll love it! I'm very happy with my iPad 2 purchase. They will have more today anyway so go back to the store. Last time they told me they didn't have it and they called two days later and by then I had flown to Denver and gotten my iPad.
At one of the few SF penisula Apple stores (the one in Burlingame), the stock of iPad2s was so poor that after waiting in line 5 hrs with only 150 people in front of me when the doors reopened at 5pm (with a max of 2 units purchased per person), I went home empty handed because the 2 people in front of me bought the last 32 Mb Wifi only models. All 16Mb models were sold out well before I got to the front and there were only a few 64Mb (overkill) models with 3G left when I got to the front.
I was not amused and think the 500+ people behind me were similarly annoyed. If I had known that they'd be stocking their own stores with so few a stock I would have ordered online and saved a day waiting in line.
This is a very poor lauch. Yes, they can say they had long lines but if you can't meet at least most of the demand, what is the point. You just piss people off. I think they just lost a customer. This may just be a sign I should save my money
A disappointing experience for sure. I know it must have sucked to wait that long and not be able to buy the one you wanted.
At the Apple store in Shadyside/Pittsburgh. They handed out tickets that ensured that at least being able to buy one of the models. Then an employee surveyed and tallied buying intentions of everyone in line. I assume that they were doing this to be able to notify people at the end of the line which models would be sold out by the time they made it into the store.
I thought that was an incredibly courteous way to treat their customers!
The iPhone lines seem to take forever. Lines for the iPad at least moved quickly.
They xoomed along!
A disappointing experience for sure. I know it must have sucked to wait that long and not be able to buy the one you wanted.
At the Apple store in Shadyside/Pittsburgh. They handed out tickets that ensured that at least being able to buy one of the models. Then an employee surveyed and tallied buying intentions of everyone in line. I assume that they were doing this to be able to notify people at the end of the line which models would be sold out by the time they made it into the store.
I thought that was an incredibly courteous way to treat their customers!
Courteous yes to take a vote on models and let people know if they were getting low on stock-- if that is what they actually did!!
I waited in Boston for 4 hours, made it all the way into the store and talking to an apple server before he told me that all 3G ATT were sold out. Now I know the guy in front of me was not the last to buy one.... so why on earth could they not have had the decency to come through the remaining line and let us know
I'm not furious they sold out-- Apple has the right to that success. I'm furious that they had so many employees working the line, had more than one going down the line asking what you were going to purchase (yes theres an app for that) and then NOT USING THAT INFORMATION TO KEEP THE PURCHASING PUBLIC INFORMED!
Very poor launch Apple. Shame on you.
Courteous yes to take a vote on models and let people know if they were getting low on stock-- if that is what they actually did!!
I waited in Boston for 4 hours, made it all the way into the store and talking to an apple server before he told me that all 3G ATT were sold out. Now I know the guy in front of me was not the last to buy one.... so why on earth could they not have had the decency to come through the remaining line and let us know
I'm not furious they sold out-- Apple has the right to that success. I'm furious that they had so many employees working the line, had more than one going down the line asking what you were going to purchase (yes theres an app for that) and then NOT USING THAT INFORMATION TO KEEP THE PURCHASING PUBLIC INFORMED!
Very poor launch Apple. Shame on you.
What do mean "if that is what they actually did"? Why else would they hand out tickets and tally buying intentions of the line? Seriously, for what other reason would they hand out tickets and doing a survey? They could easily kick back and just look at the sales without doing any of that.
Your only valid complaint is that they didn't inform you quick enough of the sell out. Or perhaps you missed the announcements. You can't honestly believe that they let those 500 people behind you get to front of the line only to be disappointed. You can't honestly believe that the sales staff would sit there and be yelled at 500 times without bothering to make an announcement.
As for not having enough, what do you want them to do? Wave a magic wand?
This was about the best managed product launch I've ever seen. Sidewalks were taped off. It was scheduled for 5pm so that people weren't waiting in the cold and darkness. Extra security was on hand. They handed out tickets and did a survey. They handed out free refreshments. I quite enjoyed the coffee cart that came around. Every customer received a dedicated sales person upon entering the store and my entire transaction took 90 seconds or less.
you missed the announcements or one guy forgot to make the announcement soon enough, and you've decided the entire launch was horrible? A little perspective please.
iPad 2 is the second gen MBA all over again!
In what way? Firs iPad was an incredible success, iPad 2 also looks set to be, and it is simply an incremental update, with the exception of the cameras, there is nothing new here...
Good for Apple. Intro of the Verizon iPhone, updated MBPs and now the intro of both black and white iPad 2... Another record quarter coming up! Buy your stock now while it's cheap!
They xoomed along!
The board at Motorola Mobility all have their heads in their hands, shaking back forth and moaning...
March 18th was too long to wait.
I arrived at my local Best Buy around 2:45 PM Friday and joined the line at the back of the store with no more than 20 people ahead of me. By 3:30 PM there were about 20 people behind me. By 4:30 PM the line had hit the front of the store by the registers and wrapped around towards the entrance. Best Buy handed out vouchers for the models we wanted and tried to sell us on the Zagg Invisible Shields, their buy back program and warranty. They didn't have any of the leather smart cases only the polyurethane ones. The Best Buy employees were shocked by the line. A guy near me had a friend who worked at the store who had told him to show up around 4:20 PM. His Best Buy employee friend had told him he didn't need to show up early because they were going to have more than enough to meet demand. He was glad he hadn't listened. When I was ushered up to purchase my iPad around 5:20 PM the Best Buy employee who was running the show told one of the cashiers that he had sold out all 150 iPads they had on hand. The Best Buy employees were scrambling to open additional registers to handle the long line. This is at a Best Buy in mid-Michigan remember, not an affluent big city. I was blown away by the demand.
After playing with my new iPad my wife has decided to sell her 1st generation model so I'm not going to cancel my Apple Store order. I'm not sure if I'm going to sell it on eBay or just hand it down to my kids.
At one of the few SF penisula Apple stores (the one in Burlingame), the stock of iPad2s was so poor that after waiting in line 5 hrs with only 150 people in front of me when the doors reopened at 5pm (with a max of 2 units purchased per person), I went home empty handed because the 2 people in front of me bought the last 32 Mb Wifi only models. All 16Mb models were sold out well before I got to the front and there were only a few 64Mb (overkill) models with 3G left when I got to the front.
I was not amused and think the 500+ people behind me were similarly annoyed. If I had known that they'd be stocking their own stores with so few a stock I would have ordered online and saved a day waiting in line.
This is a very poor lauch. Yes, they can say they had long lines but if you can't meet at least most of the demand, what is the point. You just piss people off. I think they just lost a customer. This may just be a sign I should save my money
Don't kid yourself. You didn't wait in line that long to not buy one ASAP. I laugh when people threaten to not be a customer. hahahaha