Apple fans gear up, cautiously, for iPad launch
Joe Lutz, a software developer from Streamwood, is eager to buy the new iPad that goes on sale Saturday at area Apple stores. The so-called lifestyle tool at 16-gigabytes would provide plenty of disk space for his work.
Instead, he'll wait about a month.
"I want to avoid the first run to avoid any bugs," Lutz said.
Such fears likely won't stop hundreds of others from standing in line at Apple stores in Schaumburg, Deer Park, Oak Brook, Naperville and elsewhere to be among the first to own the new tablet PC. But Lutz will have company on the sidelines.
Shoppers coming out of the Deer Park store on Thursday were interested in buying the iPad, but not this weekend.
"I can't say that I'm not interested, but it would be good to see it in action first," said Linda Iser of Long Grove, a retired teacher who uses Apple products, including the iPhone.
Katie Colson, a 10-year-old from Cary, loves her iPod Touch and her ThinkPad, so new technology is exciting to her. But will she get an iPad? "Not yet," Colson said.
Insurance consultant Larry Dellavedova of Cary said his laptop is too heavy to lug around, since he travels a lot for his job, so the iPad looks inviting. But he won't be standing in line early on Saturday to buy one.
"I may wait a year," he said.
Thousands of Mac faithful won't have that kind of patience. Cupertino, Calif.,-based Apple Inc. has primed interest in the iPad through a tight marketing hand on the new device in advance of Saturday's launch of its Wi-Fi model, with a 3G model following in about a month.
Mac user groups around the suburbs are gearing up for the launch. The NorthWest of Us Macintosh Computer User Group, which has about 200 members, said about 30 are planning to buy an iPad. The organization's next monthly meeting will feature an Apple Store official from Deer Park, who will answer questions at 10 a.m. on April 10 at the Hotel Indigo in Palatine.
"It truly is a magical tool," said Sanford White of Buffalo Grove, and former president of the NorthWest of Us. "And that's what's so phenomenal about it and for the general public to be able to use this ... There's a lot of pent-up demand."
The iPad lets users access the Internet, work with e-mail, share photos, watch high-definition videos, listen to music, play games, read e-books and more, The ultrathin and lightweight device also provides up to 10 hours of battery life, the company said.
Stores are expected to offer free setup and customizing help with e-mail, favorite apps and other services. The stores also will offer iPad workshops to help customers learn more about the device, the company said. An Apple spokesman declined to provide any further details.
The iPad already has some form of competition with similar products, including the Toshiba Portege, the Archos 5 Internet Tablet and the Asus T91mt Eee PC. Others expected this year include the Panasonic Toughbook H1 Field, HP Slate and those by Dell, Acer and Sony. Schaumburg-based Motorola Inc. demonstrated a prototype device using LTE (high-speed long-term evolution for mobile devices) at the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this year. But a spokeswoman said Motorola hasn't officially announced anything.
The iPad will be available at 221 Apple stores and many Best Buy stores nationwide. The prices start at $499 for the 16-gigabyte model, $599 for 32GB and $699 for 64GB. The Wi-Fi + 3G models using AT&T service will be available in late April for $629 for 16GB, $729 for 32GB and $829 for 64GB, the company said in a statement.
"I think the iPad will do quite well for Apple," says Toan Tran, associate director of equity research/technology for Chicago-based Morningstar Inc. "There's probably a significant portion of the population that just wants a computing device that works. (They) don't want to deal with Windows, a file system, installing programs, configuration, etc. The iPad will allow them to get to what they want, surfing the Web, watching a video, reading e-mail and so on in a seamless way."
White believes this weekend will see a lot of early adapters standing in line, just as they did for the iPhone and other Apple products in previous years. But he'll wait about a month or so, just like Lutz, to bypass any initial issues that will need to be fixed in the first few weeks.
In addition, White plans to buy another iPad for his 95-year-old mother, who lives in Jacksonville, Fla.
"My last visit to see her in Florida two weeks ago got her to fully comprehend the iPhone user experience," White said. "It will be an easy transition to the iPad."
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