Apple’s iPad will help persuade consumers that a tablet is a must-have
GIVEN all the hype ahead of the arrival of Apple’s new tablet computer, the debut on April 3rd of the iPad in America was perhaps inevitably going to feel like something of an anti-climax. There were long lines at the company’s stores before daybreak and, as the doors opened, would-be buyers were met with rapturous applause from Apple staff. But many reports suggested that by mid-morning the fervour had died down in most places. At the Apple store in San Francisco late on Saturday afternoon, it almost felt like any other shopping day—except, that is, for the small scrum that had formed around the table where iPads were being tested.
Not that this means Apple’s latest innovation is destined to be a flop. The devices on sale this week are WiFi-only iPads; many people will be waiting for the mobile-wireless ones that are due to go on sale in late April. Moreover, customers were able to order iPads online from mid-March for home delivery beginning April 3rd, which meant they didn’t need to traipse to a store. And Apple agreed to let Best Buy, a big electronics retailer, offer iPads on the same day as its own stores, which siphoned off some traffic from Apple’s outlets. Your correspondent was able to pick up his own iPad from a Best Buy store mid-morning without even having to queue for it.
Several of the folk at that store with iPads under their arms seemed to be Apple aficionados already. Aimee Levine, a self-confessed “gadget girl” who already owns an iPhone and iPod music player, said one of the main reasons for buying an iPad was that she planned to take out electronic subscriptions to her favourite newspapers and magazines on it, and to do away with the printed ones. Jeremy Moore, another customer, said he was keen to get his hands on something that had the potential to reshape computing. “If it makes me feel like I’m in the future I’ll buy it.”
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