Apple sells 500,000 iPads, runs out of stock Apple is estimated to have shifted half a million iPad 2s this weekend - almost all of them within 24 hours of the 'even more magical' gadget going on sale on Friday. Last year, the Mac maker shifted 300,000 iPads in the first day of the tablet's availability. This year's total comes from Apple watcher and Piper Jaffray …
If Apple didn't insist on utter secrecy before the announcement date, followed ridiculously closely by the launch date, they could probably manufacture and stuff the supply chain enough to meet inevitable demand.
But, as others have pointed out, that wouldn't get the 'sold out within MINUTES!!!1!' publicity that money cannot buy.
Even better, because their new devices are always 'sold out within MINUTES!!!1!', in order to get one, you have to either wait weeks, or queue up to get it on the first day, thereby guaranteeing they'll be 'sold out within MINUTES!!!1!'
It's a kind of genius. Albeit, one that's only enabled by having an extremely creepy relationship with the press.
I would think the Android fanbois would be happy that Apple is selling a ton of their useless fondleslabs to the sheeple. After all, it keeps the unwashed masses away from their beloved geek toy. If Android was as popular as iOS, the true geeks would drop it for a N900 faster than you can say "missing the point..."
> Morons are the mindless haters, blinded by their bitterness.
Not one person has mentioned one thing that the new iPad can do
that the old one already doesn't do. Sure there's been plenty of hype
about artificial benchmarks that may or may not pan out. However, no
one has really adequately explained what they plan to get out of trading
one overpriced toy for another or what the urgency is.
Well it has cameras this time so some really obvious ones for starters are:
Facetime
Augmented reality
Take pictures*
*I'm not gonna get into the 'Why with 10" pad' arguement - it just can if you want it to
And I don't think anybody is suggesting that it was only existing customers buying them...
"almost all of them within 24 hours of the 'even more magical' gadget going on sale on Friday."
24 hours? I don't think so. There's been wall-to-wall media coverage and free advertising for months. Presumably they were taking pre-orders too. The 24 hour period was simply when they shipped.
And they do this everytime - "run out", so we get yet more non-stories giving them coverage.
Of course, now that the Ipad 2 is here, I guess the Register will be running stories of how many thousands of wasted man years went into Ipad 1 right (as with the Nokia story - apparently Symbian is all a waste, because in future there'll be newer Windows phones...) ?
"in fact, 49% were PC users "
That stat makes no sense - "Macs" are PCs these days. If you mean that 49% weren't Apple PC users, that still means that 51% were, suggesting most of the sales are coming from those who are already Apple users. This also ignores the 49% who may also be Ipod users. Perhaps there's nothing wrong with that, but I'm unclear what point the stat is trying to make (other than being yet-another-Apple-story).
I mean, how many Android phone users, once owned a Sony console? How many Windows netbook users have a Nokia phone? Are these all newsworthy stories too?
"If Android was as popular as iOS"
It's more popular.
>> If Android was as popular as iOS
> It's more popular
Close but no cigar. Android phones are more popular than iPhones, but when you include iPod Touches and iPads, there are more iOS devices out there than there are Android devices.
To wit:
http://www.dkszone.net/android-vs-apple-iphone-os-rim-blackberry-symbian
http://thenextweb.com/apple/2010/10/18/apple-posts-q3-earnings-and-sales-iphone-sales-up-91/
(first graph shows Android only 2% ahead of iPhones in US. iPod Touches and iPads combined sales are roughly the same as iPhones => iOS easily ahead of Android).
Unless you have facts to the contrary...
If I were in charge of a business, I'd fire the guy who *repeatedly* screwed up the manufacturing stockpile/ projections and caused so many "out of stock" moments. Every time an apple product comes out it's the same.
Of course, I'm not suggesting it's stage managed to run out ASAP, oh nooooo
If it's useless how did I use mine to read this article and reply to it? Isn't that a use?
What is useless is people moaning, whining and labelling massive sections of the world as morons etc just because they bought a gadget that either you don't want or can't afford. Either way really nobody gives a crap about what you think.
Being a PC + Penguin user by default, and having an iPod (Christmas gift actually) I don't know where I stand in terms of being informed by various commentar... errr correspondents on here whether or not I want one of these things. Sensing ownership of an iPad does seem to bring out the worst in some of you lot, really.
But you know what, I actually do quite fancy one, and all this name-calling on here tends to steer me closer towards one. The cost is nothing in reality, just some different numbers on an account balance somewhere that won't change my life this year or next all being well. I didn't know I fancied an iPod until I had one and that's a neat bit of kit. Safe to assume that the iPad will be too, so that sounds good enough reason to buy one at an opportune moment. When I do, I promise not to come on here and gloat about it. With any luck it'll quickly become just another toy - like the iPod - to hop on the net with, or play Paper Toss, or Sudoko, to get in touch with distant friends & family, or d/l some toons if I feel like it. Y'know, just like a trimmed down PC.
I really don't get the name-calling and hatred targeted at people who apparently 'just fancy' a neat toy. As far as I can tell it does what it does very well; of all the reviews of alt f/slabs that I've seen none seem to have that x-factor + range of toys that the IPad does, and there's no point buying second best just to save a few bob.
Where do I queue up for one then?
To geeks perhaps. I have three Macs "one running Linux" and I don't want an iPad. I'd take one for free, but for that price I could buy another actual computer.
But you need to remember, iPads are NOT for most of us geeks. They are for that relatives you have, the one who cannot be convinced not to open e-mail attachments no matter how hard you try. Grandparents with no interest in one of those "computer things" and people who's only real use for a computer is Facebook, Twitter, and web browsing.
The people who don't need or want an actual computer no matter the OS. They want a trouble free content device. They want their internet to be as easy as their TV and there are a LOT of these people.
Every iPad web user is one less botridden Winbox cranking out spam. Let them have their internet device, and we will have our computers.
Nobody said the iPad is useless. It can be used. It is, however, entirely purposeless.
You by a chair because you want to sit, you buy a TV because you want to watch TV, you buy a computer because you want to get some work done, or to browse the web or play games or send emails, you buy a game console because you want to play games, you buy a phone because you want to make phone calls. You buy an iPad because you want to own an iPad.
Agreed, you can use the iPad to browse the web (if you are OK with neutered mobile versions of websites, and without flash. Like it or not -I don't-, flash is everywhere), You can play games on the iPad, if you're OK with simplistic games. You can do some work on your iPad, if you don't need to do anything complicated AND you already own a computer to sync to afterwards. You can watch movies on your iPad, if you're OK with the tiny display and the forearm-of-steel syndrome. It is NOT a standalone computer (on-the-go or otherwise), it is NOT a gaming rig, it is NOT a movie-watching device, and it's very limited even for very basic stuff such as web browsing. You can FIND uses your iPad after you bought it, but the use is almost entirely irrelevant to the buying decision. To reuse one of my previous comparisons, you can find uses for your cat (it hunts mice, spiders and centipedes), however chances are that you did not get a cat for the purpose of getting rid of mice, spiders or centipedes. You got a cat because it's good-looking and cuddly. Same reasons as for buying an iPad. If you have the money and want one, well, go ahead and get one. But don't pretend it has any specific purpose.
DISCLAIMER: I do own a number of purposeless gadgets, so I can understand. No iPad or cat to date, though. Too expensive, I would have to give up on one of my other purposeless and expensive hobbies: either my extensive collection of ancient computers, my numerous film cameras, my experimental Qi Hardware stuff, my collection of wind instruments, or the missus.
(coat: I'll need it to keep me warm on the couch if said missus ever reads that!)
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