People lined up for 8 hours at Edmonton’s Southgate Centre for the opening of Apple’s 15th Canadian and Edmonton’s 2nd store which coincided with the official launch of the much anticipated iPad.
A few minutes before the special 8:00AM opening Store Manager Brenda Vegas and her team in bright coloured t-shirts enthusiastically welcomed the anxiously awaiting customers.
The doors opened to a deafening sound of roars and cheers. First through the door with his open MacBook webcasting live to friends in Dubai was Daniel Bell, who purchased a 32GB iPad Wi-Fi+3G.
“It’s a great device – it has a cool design, great quality and performance. I’m going to use the iPad for school– some of the text books are in there.”
Of course, that’s officially, he said. Bell keyed in on the e-books feature of the iPad saying that he’ll likely read more books because he has an iPad.
Interestingly enough, Bell is no stranger to Apple Store openings, having been the first in line at the openings of both Apple West Edmonton Mall and Calgary stores.
Third in the store and third to buy Michael Schwake had already experienced the iPad belonging to friend visiting from the US. Schwake, aspiring to be a developer and constantly attached to his MacBook Pro is excited and sees the iPad as an intermediary device between his laptop and the iPhone.
“It’s the new platform, the new way of using computing. The bigger workspace will allow for more user define ‘killer’ applications, not just technical ones and will revolutionized handheld computing.”
While most people were quite forthcoming about the reason for their purchases, others like Devon Cochrane with credit card in hand, were a little more indifferent.
“I’m not sure it was worth the wait. I buy anything I see in an ad.”
Free Personal Setup
Since the opening of the first Apple Store, Personal Setup has been part of their $99 One to One program. But Apple wants everyone ready to run and ready to rock n roll when they leave the store, so they’re offering a free personal setup by a knowledgeable Apple specialist with each iPad purchase to help them get started. This includes helping their customers set up email, sync contacts, calendars and bookmarks with MobileMe, personalize their home screen, download their favorite apps and more. They’ll also get an introduction to Apple’s latest store – iBookstore.
And for those who are just thinking of buying, today every Apple Store will offer free 30 minute “iPad Tour” workshops to help potential customers select which model is right for them and offer tips and tricks to new users.
The excitement of the original iPad rollout in the US seems to have certainly maintained its steam as it’s launched here in Canada.
Greg Gazin is the Real Canadian Gadget Guy.
Follow me on Twitter @gadgetgreg