My
original plan was to get up early and head over to the Dublin Best Buy before it opened and then pick one up with the early crowd. I had driven by the store last night around 9:30 and had seen one lone
idiot person already camped out for the night. There were three skaters in the area but I didn't think they were there for the launch.
As with all things in life, your plans change. My dog has been acting a bit odd the last two days and I decided that taking her to the Vet's was probably a better expenditure of my time than waiting in line for a gadget I really didn't need. Sure I could have gotten up and made it over, picked up the device, and gotten back in time to go to the appointment but that just didn't feel right.
It turns out the dog is fine with just a pulled muscle in her lower back so after dropping off the dog and my girlfriend I went back to Best Buy to at least play with the display model. The device is certainly interesting and I could see the potential. I then asked one of the Apple sales folk how long it took to sell them out this morning. His response:
"We didn't sell out, and still have a bunch available"
I was a bit flabbergasted by this. Wasn't the iPad supposed to be the device that completely changed how we lived? How could it now have sold out? I was a bit flabbergasted as there was no way there could be an unsold iPad nearly two hours after the store doors had opened. Sure this is Ohio but this is the same store that moved about 100 Wii's in an hour not that long ago. The same store that had people camping for 16+ hours for a PS3 when it launched.
Jaw still agape I headed over to the service counter were I could see a small pile of the devices sitting on a counter. I pulled out my Best Buy credit card (18 months same as cash was the only way I could afford/justify the purchase) and purchased one of the units. I declined the $250 two year service plan and headed out.
I still haven't opened the box as I'm not sure I want to keep the device. I'm still having a hard time justifying the cost ($550 after tax) and there's a nice 15% penalty if I want to return it after opening it. I'm guessing I'll wear down sometime tomorrow afternoon (the iPad version of
Civilization Revolution looks really good) but for right now it's going to stay safely in it's box while I work on other things.
