We just got back from Buffalo. We arrived at 3pm for the 5pm launch. There was 270 people in line at the Apple Store by the official count not long after we arrived. I expect that hit 500 in the end.
The bad. We were told up until we got to the door that they had 3G AT&T Models in stock in Black but white was sold out. It turned out ALL At&t 3G models were sold out. The girl at the door was downright surly about it and the first rep inside was a younger girl who didn't seem to care. It is not that surprising that being that close to the border there were a lot of Canadians in line and the 3G At&T models were the first to sell out. They had lots of every other configuration. Apple didn't seem to get the memo about cross border shoppers. The system Apple uses is to simply hand out a white card to people in line close to 5pm based on the total stock. Unfortunately the flaw as we pointed out to them is that this doesn't take into account preferences. With 18 sku's the odds are pretty good that when you get to the front of the line you may end up like us unable to walk out with what you wanted. With other launches this wasn't as big a deal since they only had one wireless carrier and the system would work to upsell you into a more expensive model when the cheaper ones sold out. With more than one carrier and 18 skus this doesn't work so well. A customer might be willing to pay for more storage or a different colour but few will accept the wrong wireless carrier. The reps working the line handed out water bottles but tried to sell the company BS about not knowing how many they were getting as if they were all just going to be magically teleported to their shelves at 5pm. Even Best Buy refused to announce their stock numbers. This might be good for the cameras and hype but it is poor customer service.
The Awesome. A second Rep saved the day. She spoke to the store manager and they basically bent over backwards together to help us. In the end we left with two 64 gig wifi's for now with a corporate discount rate. We are now in their system and able to get that discount anytime we shop there. Only 2% on an iPad but more on computers and such. In addition we can go back in a few weeks when the rush dies down and exchange for the 3G. The manager is willing to allow us an extended return period. They were wonderful. The manager's family happens to actually be from our city (Brantford) by some strange coincidence. We have her card and can call and have two put aside in a few weeks to exchange when things die down. They turned a bad situation around. Big kudos to the Apple Store. The manager admitted that they were not expecting the level of onslaught that they faced thanks to the 2 week delay in Canada and the reported 2-3 week delay for Americans who ordered online. The store does expect to continue to receive stock daily so those of you on your way in tomorrow still have a shot if you go early.
Best Buy and Walmart may have been included in this launch but they only got 5-10 per store it seems. As I expected the Apple Store line was the place to be.
My initial impressions?
iPad2 is definitely thinner and more comfortable to hold. I find it noticeably lighter which is a big plus. I didn't find the previous one slow so it is hard to say anything about the processor difference. The Cameras are a non starter for anything but Facetime. The sensor might be a decent resolution but the aperture is not much larger than the tip of a pen. So forget shooting pictures in anything less than perfect outdoor lighting conditions and even then the quality will be less than impressive. The blind that they call a case didn't seem worth it. It doesn't provide any protection from the shock of falls or bumps and it seems like it could slip off in your bag.
The Yankee iPad2 as expected has 0 glitches on itunes here. I was able to use it in the Apple Store in the states and update apps and then go home and restore my backup from my iPad 1 to it and upload apps from the Canadian store. The Canadian store is obviously well prepared for the launch.
The bad. We were told up until we got to the door that they had 3G AT&T Models in stock in Black but white was sold out. It turned out ALL At&t 3G models were sold out. The girl at the door was downright surly about it and the first rep inside was a younger girl who didn't seem to care. It is not that surprising that being that close to the border there were a lot of Canadians in line and the 3G At&T models were the first to sell out. They had lots of every other configuration. Apple didn't seem to get the memo about cross border shoppers. The system Apple uses is to simply hand out a white card to people in line close to 5pm based on the total stock. Unfortunately the flaw as we pointed out to them is that this doesn't take into account preferences. With 18 sku's the odds are pretty good that when you get to the front of the line you may end up like us unable to walk out with what you wanted. With other launches this wasn't as big a deal since they only had one wireless carrier and the system would work to upsell you into a more expensive model when the cheaper ones sold out. With more than one carrier and 18 skus this doesn't work so well. A customer might be willing to pay for more storage or a different colour but few will accept the wrong wireless carrier. The reps working the line handed out water bottles but tried to sell the company BS about not knowing how many they were getting as if they were all just going to be magically teleported to their shelves at 5pm. Even Best Buy refused to announce their stock numbers. This might be good for the cameras and hype but it is poor customer service.
The Awesome. A second Rep saved the day. She spoke to the store manager and they basically bent over backwards together to help us. In the end we left with two 64 gig wifi's for now with a corporate discount rate. We are now in their system and able to get that discount anytime we shop there. Only 2% on an iPad but more on computers and such. In addition we can go back in a few weeks when the rush dies down and exchange for the 3G. The manager is willing to allow us an extended return period. They were wonderful. The manager's family happens to actually be from our city (Brantford) by some strange coincidence. We have her card and can call and have two put aside in a few weeks to exchange when things die down. They turned a bad situation around. Big kudos to the Apple Store. The manager admitted that they were not expecting the level of onslaught that they faced thanks to the 2 week delay in Canada and the reported 2-3 week delay for Americans who ordered online. The store does expect to continue to receive stock daily so those of you on your way in tomorrow still have a shot if you go early.
Best Buy and Walmart may have been included in this launch but they only got 5-10 per store it seems. As I expected the Apple Store line was the place to be.
My initial impressions?
iPad2 is definitely thinner and more comfortable to hold. I find it noticeably lighter which is a big plus. I didn't find the previous one slow so it is hard to say anything about the processor difference. The Cameras are a non starter for anything but Facetime. The sensor might be a decent resolution but the aperture is not much larger than the tip of a pen. So forget shooting pictures in anything less than perfect outdoor lighting conditions and even then the quality will be less than impressive. The blind that they call a case didn't seem worth it. It doesn't provide any protection from the shock of falls or bumps and it seems like it could slip off in your bag.
The Yankee iPad2 as expected has 0 glitches on itunes here. I was able to use it in the Apple Store in the states and update apps and then go home and restore my backup from my iPad 1 to it and upload apps from the Canadian store. The Canadian store is obviously well prepared for the launch.
