back to article Early demand knocks back UK iPad 2 delivery dates

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 …

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  1. jai

    good quantities?

    the Orange shop on Cheapside has only 7 units

    but then, there's no one queuing outside yet, so perhaps 7 is all they'll need

  2. Wayne
    Megaphone

    Quick...

    Let's all post the names of lesser known retailers so that people rush over there and clean them out too :D

    I know that some retailers who were expecting stock haven't received any (Argos, Beckton Business park for one) and that some retailers will be running a 'ticket' process to get your iPad. But I reckon this is going to be badly handled and lots of people are going to be disappointed because they couldn't get their new physical object today.

    1. Jim_aka_Jim
      Joke

      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.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      surely "ipad very popular"

      Since this will be how it is portrayed by the Apfel Korps (like the Afrika Korps but prettier tanks)

      rather than case of "poor preparation to meet expected sales"

  3. Thomas 4
    Boffin

    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?

    1. Gavin Jamie
      Joke

      There's an app for that

      iPee and iPoo.

      Because it can do anything.

  4. Michael Jennings

    They are in short supply

    I ordered one from the online Apple store last night, and was promised "Shipping in 2-3 weeks". That probably means shipping directly from Shenzhen, so delivery in 3-4 weeks.

    Just out of curiousity, I wandered down to my local PC World at 4.30pm. The salesman said that they had received six, and that they had had six people waiting "since this morning". The people waiting did not look like Apple fans so much as they looked like the sorts of people who buy and sell mobile phones for a living and who would probably be selling the iPads to someone else pretty much immediately. Nothing wrong with that, of course. That said, the PC World guy looked like he had had a hard day, as he had clearly told a lot of people this in the last few hours. I wished him a good evening, and went upon my way.

  5. thesykes
    FAIL

    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.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Flame

    As with the original iPad...

    ...but what's it FOR?

    I've been asking this since the launch of the original and nobody's been able to answer that yet.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      To be honest...

      After all the coverage if you haven't found the answer yet you've probably not been listening anyway.

      Then again it doesn't support the RS-485 link to the PLCs in your living room's proton accelerator , so maybe you shouldn't bother.

    2. A. Nervosa

      What's it for?

      Trust me, you'll never get a meaningful answer to that question until you use one for more than an hour.

    3. Jeff Clarke

      It is for...

      Doing this sort of thing.. I.e., being able to easily and quickly respond to things on the web at a pace similar to a desktop, but in a go anywhere package. I have sat and surfed the register for over 4years on th strains to work using an n95, onmnia, htc desire, and had never bothered responding to such things, as it was a pain to go through all the text in put kerfuffle. Here, I am just typing fast and loose, and getting a very good accuracy rate. You can see some corruption of my words earlier on in this response, and yet the rest is ok. That's is the point. Bring the fluidity of the desktop world into the mobile one. Oh, btw way, as of sat lunchtime, the local tmobile stored still had good stock of ipad2s so they are probably still avialbel as a walk up and whim purchase in some areas...

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      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...

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    FleaBay

    Just had a quick scan on FleaBay and spotted a winner:

    A 64GB WiFi + 3G unit for £1249.. The part that cracked me up, though is this line:

    "My first time using Ebay so quite excited!"

    See it in all it's glory here: http://tinyurl.com/46ts5z2

    Right, super trustworthy seller, this bloke then!!

    Paris because she knows the best way to get shafted..

  8. PsychicMonkey
    Jobs Halo

    an iFan

    and his money are soon parted.

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