Time to Line Up, iPad Goes on Sale April 3rd!

[Jeff Campbell]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.macworld.com/article/146907/2010/03/ipad_availabiility.html?lsrc=nl_mwnws_h_crawl' target='_blank'>http://www.macworld.com/article/146...l_mwnws_h_crawl</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"The wait for the iPad is, er, well, it's just beginning I suppose. On Friday, Apple announced that the new device would go on sale on Saturday, April 3 in the U.S. Customers who want to pre-order can put in their claim on March 12-just a week away, so get your clicking fingers ready."</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/dht/auto/1264960943.usr105634.jpg" /></p><p>Again, this is only the Wi-Fi version so I expect you will have to wait until late April for the 3G versions to roll out. Countries outside the U.S., specifically&nbsp;Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland, and the U.K. per Apple, will have to wait until the end of April for either one. On March 12th you can pre-order either version from the Apple online store. <a href="http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2010/03/05ipad.html" target="_blank">Here is the press release</a> if you are interested. Better start saving now!&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p>

[Macguy59]

AARRGGHHHHH ! :p

[encece]

Man I wish this had a camera! The only thing making me not JUMP up and order one! But I may be jumping anyway.

[Macguy59]

Man I wish this had a camera! The only thing making me not JUMP up and order one! But I may be jumping anyway.

I had that initial reaction but when I thought about it I can count on 2 fingers the number of times I've thought about video chat/conferencing. Plus even if it did I'm guessing Apple or AT&T would only allow it to work via wi-fi. Jason is of the opinion that quite a few people use the webcams on their notebook/netbook to shoot video for uploading to places like YouTube. Not sure I buy that but it's certainly plausible. It's not a deal breaker for me.

[Jeff Campbell]

Yea, I'm on the bandwagon, I'm thinking I will pickup the 32GB 3G version :)

[Macguy59]

Yea, I'm on the bandwagon, I'm thinking I will pickup the 32GB 3G version :)

What a coincidence. That config just happens to be in my sig ;)

[Jeff Campbell]

I hitched a ride on your wagon, it seemed to be going in the right direction :-)

[Michael Knutson]

I will be waiting for the 3G version however. I'm seriously thinking also that I'll dump my iPhone, go to a simple voice-only plan on some simpler phone (maybe even pay-as-you-go), and apply that $30 monthly to the iPad. Gotta cut costs somewhere ...

[Macguy59]

Sure I understand the economics. I'm not one to take a laptop (or iPad) with me everywhere I go so my 3Gs will still be important. On a somewhat related note . . . I live near the University of Illinois campus that has an Apple store front (http://www.illiniapplecenter.com/). It's not owned or operated by Apple but it's employees are certified by Apple. I stopped in yesterday to see if they will be carrying the tablet and to my surprise they said probably not :( I know they are not allowed to sell iPhones due to the cellular aspect but it's disappointing they won't get the Wi-Fi only version of iPad.

[Deslock]

My technolust for a large, vibrant, capacitance multitouch screen on a thin, responsive device has overpowered my reservations about the lack of windowed-multitasking, a camera, GPS, and Hulu/Netflix support (as well as my irritation about Apple's opaque app-approval process).

So I'm gonna pre-order the $499 model (though I'll try a demo unit in the store before opening the box). If down the road the Notion Ink Adam kicks its ass, I can always sell the iPad.