iPad Launch: View from the Palo Alto store

A guest post by Mike Smithwick, author of Distant Suns 2 for the iPhone and blogger at distantsuns.com. Mike is a seasoned iPhone/iPad developer who has developed numerous iPhone applications. Follow Mike’s work on Twitter for more information.

When I reserved my iPad, I selected Apple’s flagship store in Palo Alto for pickup. I had never quite understood the Apple line mentality. After all, most people could just save a lot of time and either order one online or wait a day or two.

Now I see the light.

Plus I absolutely needed to get a unit ASAP to test my software, Distant Suns. It was already live in the App Store and had over 80 downloads, so I needed to see what others were to make any fixes for things the simulator didn’t show.

I got there at about 7. Already one news van was parked across the street and about 150 people were in line. The reserved line was the shorter of the two, with maybe 50 or so.

Everyone seemed to recognize the silliness of it all, but also just how fun it was to hang out with fellow Apple fans. The store employees were top notch, handing Krispy Kreme doughnuts and coffee.

One lovely woman behind me, illustrated her geek-cred by telling us how her husband still had his Apple III, and that it was working order. They wanted to get rid of it, but only to someone who could appreciate it. Up went my hand immediately nearly breaking the sound barrier. So not only do I end up with an iPad by day’s end, but a rare working Apple III. Read the Rest of the Story.