Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2012/03/14/first_ipad_buyer_trumped/

iPad queue hog doesn’t want it, won’t be first

Sponsored squatter trumped by telcos

By Simon Sharwood

Posted in Personal Tech, 14th March 2012 23:50 GMT

The man who queued in the hope of becoming the first person on earth to buy a New iPad doesn't want a new fondleslab and has spent days pavement-surfing in vain.

He just wants the $AUD950 a crowdsourcing service is paying him to queue while wearing one of its logo-emblazoned t-shirts.

According to news.com.au, former truck driver Stephen Parkes thinks fondleslabs are a bit of an indulgence. He’ll therefore stump up the cash and then hand the slab over to the CEO of the crowdsourcing company at the end of his five-day pavement-surfing stint, which thanks to Australia's time zone and the size of Apple's Sydney store meant he'd have stood a very good chance of being the first human to make such a purchase.

But Parkes and the crowdsourcing service will both likely lose out on their attention-seeking goal, as Australia’s Apple stores will open at 8:00 AM local time (9:00PM Thursday GMT). Local telcos have since announced they will open their stores at midnight. Australia’s dominant telco, Telstra, has a flagship store literally across the road from the Apple store where Parkes is queuing. With rain forecast for tonight, Parkes is in for a nasty time.

The USA, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland and the UK; along with Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, will also have new iPad for sale on Friday. ®