iPad 2…

Two days after the release… I’m still licking my wounds.

Been watching the build-up and hype for weeks. At the announcement, to my (and a lot of folks) surprise, there was no pre-orders. This is unlike the release last year of the first gen iPad.

But, unlike last year, the actual release was only a week away, as opposed to the 30-days. That seemed to increase the hype in the compressed time from announce to release.

At midnight on the 11th, I was online and had a white 64GB 3G (GSM) in my cart. But the 3-5 business day delivery didn’t sit well. After pondering for a while, I decided to take my chance locally at Best Buy at 17:00 on Friday.

I went to the Dimond Center on Friday. Taking a few breaks, I wandered by BB and AT&T a few times. Found out AT&T had a “very limited supply” and BB will hand out tickets in the line.

Finally went back down about 4:00. Talked to Ben who gave me the skinny. Get in line, get a voucher, and at 5:00 they will let people in. The line was just around the corner outside, BUT, I didn’t have my jacket!

So I ran to the office and retrieved that, and in the short time to get back to “the line” I was WAY back. Ben had said they had about 100 left of different models, but I didn’t push for specifics. I tried to do a quick count of the line from where I was, WAY back. I was probably within the 100, but would they have the one I wanted.

They came through the waiting crowd and made an announcement. They would start passing out vouchers, and go back the line at 4:30. They would start selling at 5:00.

By the time they got somewhere close to where I could see, they made another announcement and said they would be moving the line forward as folks were going to be entering the store. The vouchers would resume at the door.

I was about 10-20 back at that point. It was right at 5:00.

Got to within about 5-7 from the head of the line and they made another announcement. There are no more 32 or 64GB iPads, in either white or black. They had 16GB 3G and some wi-fi versions still available. Skunked!!!

So I broke out of line and hurried to AT&T. Was only a small line. I was talking to a guy in front of me who had also been to BB. He was still trying to decide which model he wanted. I mentioned my experience using the 64GB and it sounded like a 32 would probably suit him just fine. About that time, 5:07PM, they made the announcement that there were no more iPads, but that they could order for you. Dammit, denied again!

I went back upstairs to the office. My MBP was still plugged in. A quick link to the Apple store still showed two to three weeks delivery. I went ahead and picked the white, 64GB 3G (AT&T) model, and the accessories. Got confirmation yesterday that the AppleCare “shipped” and next saw that the cover had also shipped. Should arrive Monday or Tuesday…

I just hope the supply chain in China is cranking them out (as I know they are) and the iPad will only be a couple of weeks behind.

In the end, that 3-5 business days doesn’t look so bad now… In this case, I gambled and lost.

– Posted from my iPad…

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