I don’t know what it is about Apple products that makes me just whip out my credit card, but damned if I don’t have one of each, even to the laptops. I think the only product that I’ve resisted is the Apple TV and that’s only because it doesn’t play Hulu content. When I started reading – and hearing – about the new Apple iPad, well, heck, yeah, I wanted one. I think it’s a revolutionary device (as I’ve talked about on the Boulder Open Podcast that I co-host) and, of course, I want to write about how to do things with the iPad on my Ask Dave Taylor.com site too.
But that’s just an excuse. I just want one. 🙂
So when I learned that pre-orders for the new iPad were going to happen at 5.30am PST on March 12, 2010, I dutifully set the alarm on my Apple iPhone to wake up at 6.25am MST and try to get to the head of the line. After all, it wouldn’t be cool if my friends had one and I was still on the $#@$&# waiting list, would it?
I fired up Twitter, so I could watch the iPad chatter, and went to the Apple Store, where I got to see this:
Then, at precisely 6.30am, I saw a tweet that “Pre-orders have begun!! Whoohoo!” and refreshed one more time:
Well, heck, it’s so early I’m a bit groggy, but I think I know what I want! Click on the “pre-order” button and:
Lots of options. Since I have a Verizon mifi unit, I have always just been interested in the Wi-fi version: I don’t want to pay yet another cell bill to get data access through yet another device anyway. Size? Well, the smallest is inevitably going to be too small once I drop some films and my music and photo library on it (not to mention a ton of games!), and my iPhone is 16GB so… coin flip… a 32GB unit sounds nice. That’s what I order.
A surprising number of accessories are included, notably a dock and a cable that lets you get VGA out of the iPad (what, no HDMI? No DVI? Interesting), but after a moments thought, I decide that the accessories will be easy to acquire later and skip ’em all on my pre-order.
$599 for the privilege of being an early adopter? Suuurrreeee….
Add $45.89 in Colorado sales tax and $12.00 shipping to get it a wee bit early and I click on the “Place Order Now” button.
Fingers crossed, hoping the Apple Store doesn’t glitch, and …
YES! SCORE!!!
Now the almost impossible wait for the product to actually ship and arrive.
Man, I am such a fanboy. But I admit it, and that’s part of the solution, right? 🙂
Dave,
Nice post, I ordered the 32 Gig version as well. I will be curious to see if you get yours any earlier using the $12 shipping. In the iPad description it said that it would be delivered on April 3rd. It looked to me like the 2-3 day shipping charge would only apply to accessories that had a description saying “Ships on April 3rd”, guess we will have to wait and see…
Yeah, if we get them on the same day, Thad, I’ll call Apple and ask for a refund on the express shipping cost. Why not, maybe it’ll pay for 1/3 of a new dock for the iPad.
I have to say, I really wanted to pick it up at the local Apple Store, so it’s a bit disappointing that instead I have to sit around and wait for the FedEx guy to show up.
Deep in the zone, I know. 🙂
i got my ipad today from the apple store here in the UK, many people had waited overnight but we were lucky enough to drop by an hour after the store opened to get ours without the queues.
I got myself three 64gb for my house, people are going to think Im crazy…
if an a ipad disabled how to unable it