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Apple's new iPad draws lines in Springs, elsewhereMar 16, 2012 (The Gazette - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Bryce Weatherford says he and buddy Mike Cope are Apple fans, not necessarily fanatics. Maybe so. The two, though, were the first in line Friday at the Promenade Shops at Briargate in northern Colorado Springs for the debut of Apple's latest iPad. They secured those first spots by arriving at 7 the night before. They brought a tent, camped out overnight and ate little more than a bag of Flamin' Hot Cheetos as they waited for the doors to open at 8 a.m. Apple's new iPad drew die-hard fans to stores in the U.S. and nine other countries Friday, many of whom -- like Weatherford and Cope -- lined up for hours to be among the first to buy one. At the Springs Apple store, a line of about 60 people had gathered by 7:45 a.m. The new iPad model, at prices starting at $499 in the U.S., comes with a faster processor, a much sharper screen and an improved camera, though the changes aren't as big as the upgrade to last year's iPad 2. While Weatherford and Cope -- both juniors at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs -- have other Apple products, this was the first purchase of an iPad for each. They said they planned to use them for school. "I was going to get the iPad 2," Weatherford said. "But I decided to wait for the new one." They decided to stand in line overnight on the spur of the moment. After buying their 16-gigabyte models, Weatherford and Cope said they could wait a while to learn if their overnight vigil had been worth the wait. They had one thing on their minds as they walked to their car: Sleep. There was no waiting for Robbie Trencheny, a 20-year-old web developer and systems administrator who got in line at 4:30 a.m. Friday. He unwrapped his new iPad moments after walking out of the Apple store -- doing so twice after he was given the wrong model at first. Trencheny carried a MacBook Pro laptop in his backpack, an iPhone in his pocket and has a 27-inch iMac desktop computer at home. "iPad 1, first tablet Apple made, awesome device, still was," he said of his earlier version of the device, which he sold to a friend. "I had no problems with it. I used it all the time. This one ... the first Apple device with 4G and the retina display, of course. Those are the two big things for me." Larry Johnston, who heads a Christian consulting firm that helps nonprofits with fund raising, resource development and other needs, arrived about 6:15 a.m. He planned to buy his first-ever iPad for himself, figuring it would be easier and lighter to carry on trips. But he also planned to buy a second for his oldest granddaughter, who's turning 12 this weekend. "She's going to be using it at school," Johnston said. Those who ordered iPads online started getting them delivered Friday. However, Apple now says there's a two- to three-week shipping delay for online orders. In Hong Kong on Friday, a steady stream of buyers picked up their new devices at preset times at the city's sole Apple store after entering an online lottery. About 450 people lined up outside Apple's Ginza store in downtown Tokyo. In Madison, Wis., people brought reclining lawn chairs for naps, while a few played games on older iPads. Two years after the debut of the first iPad, the device's launch has become the second-biggest "gadget event" of the year, after the annual iPhone release. Despite competition from cheaper tablet computers such as Amazon.com's Kindle Fire, the iPad remains the most popular tablet computer. Apple has sold more than 55 million iPads since its debut in 2010. The Associated Press contributed to this story. ___ (c)2012 The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colo.) Visit The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colo.) at www.gazette.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |