Early demand knocks back UK iPad 2 delivery dates
Lots to go round, say retailers
Apple's iPad 2 goes on sale in the UK at 5pm today, but folk ordering online may have a long wait for their fondleslabs.
When Apple's UK online store started taking orders for the second-gen tablet this morning, it was promising a sign-up to ship-out window of two to three weeks.
That delay has now been extended to between three and four weeks.
Punters are receiving email order confirmations with ETAs stretching well into April.
Retailers who spoke to Reg Hardware said they had good quantities of the tablet for the launch, though there's some debate whether stocks will last the initial rush. Our advice if you want an iPad 2 today: find a less well-known supplier and head there rather than an overcrowded Apple store. ®
COMMENTS
There's a surprise
Apple release a new iThing and fail to have enough stock to cope with initial demand.
Still, "iPad 2 Sells Out in hours" makes for better headlines than "Lots of iPad 2's in stock", even if it means a shop only sold 2 of the things.
There's an app for that
iPee and iPoo.
Because it can do anything.
I know where will have them...
I've been told of this fantastic place situated in an out of the way location that will be perfect for all Apple fans that wish to buy an iPad2.
There's a hidden store right in the middle of Eyjafjallajökull, just turn up and head down the thing that looks like a volcano: it's actually an elaborate store front. Honest.
Enquiring minds wish to know
I was reading on another website about the usual queues of rabid fanboys & girls outside the Apple Store in Regent Street along with the long waits. "I've been here since 7:30am on Thursday", etc, etc. For the slavering fanbois out there, how exactly do you manage this feat?
Food is easily solved by bringing a few packed lunches with you and a sleeping bag can help you blend in with the other unkempt undesirables on London's streets but how, to put it blunty, do you deal with the pissing and shitting issue? You can't wander off to the nearest pub with the fanboy behind you waiting to shove you out of the way, you can't set up one of those chemical toilets you take camping. Do you use those gross astronaut pampers or something?
Still nobody can tell me
Despite the responses there's still not a single answer that makes sense... all of those answers can equally apply to any laptop, netbook or smartphone I own. Portable, check. Surf anywhere, check. Type 'fast and loose', check.
So what's it FOR?
Problem is this. It's too big to be classed a 'pocket' device, so if you have to carry it around like you would a laptop then why not just carry a laptop (or netbook) - they're often cheaper, can do more and are even EASIER to type on.
I just don't get it, but maybe that's because I DO stuff rather than just CONSUME stuff with my tech ;)
Oh, btw, I HAVE used them for several hours and they have some issues here too. They're too heavy to hold comfortably for an extended period (smartphone wins here), they slip off your lap if you try to use them that way too (netbook wins). The best place to use them is typically on a desk or other such surface, at which point they enter into the laptop realm (laptop wins).
I guess the third party market will actually give them real purpose...
