Second NBT iPad 2 arrives
Both Allen and I now have iPad 2s. Mine just finished syncing from my iPad 1 backup (one of the reasons I love iTunes) and is now ready to go. Read on for the tale of standing in line in a tiny town in Norway.
The stores weren’t allowed to start selling the thing until 17:00, so I went there to stand in line hoping I’d be one of the first. Turns out I was number 2 when I got there around 16:10, and I had a chat with the other people in line. By 17:00, there were about 30 people in line- in a city with 28000 where this store was the only one selling the thing. Most of the people in line didn’t have one already so they were naturally more excited than me, who was dreading getting home and syncing the thing (always a pain when you have so much stuff on an iOS device as I do). I don’t know if everyone got one as they didn’t give us any numbers, they just said that they had “fewer than when the iPad 1 launched”, which was in November here in Norway so that’s just natural. The first one in the queue got a 32GB white 3G model while I got a 32GB black 3G model, but I think the most popular size was 16GB from what I overheard.
Interestingly enough one of the guys in line was a computer guy who repairs Macs for a living, so I had a talk with him. He uses some of the corporate apps I’ve been talking about, such as Citrix and Teamviewer.
The store staff wasn’t overly thrilled about the launch; they weren’t allow to set up demo units until 17:00 and on top of that they won’t get any demo units or posters etc until Monday due to a shipping error, so they had to use iPads they had put aside for themselves as demo units. There were a few normal customers there as well who no doubt was shocked to see 30 people in line in front of the counter. I’m glad I got there early as I was out there door at 17:15, with my iPad 2 and Smart Cover in tow.
I do have to point out how refreshingly easy it is to set up a new iPad. Even with all my settings, hundreds of PDF files in various apps, save games etc it only took 45 minutes to get it set up. I had to re-enter the password for Gmail, Game Center, Find My iPad and my Wifi network but other than that EVERYTHING got transferred over; contacts, settings, files, saves etc. My iPad 2 is now identical to my iPad 1 in every way as far as apps, files and settings go.
On a sidenote, the Nintendo 3DS launched today as well, and I got to try it out very briefly while waiting to pay. Verdict: 3D doesn’t make up for a crappy screen, and the 3D effect is questionable as well. Wait for the Sony NGP is my advice.
