Last Saturday, on a cool, rainy spring morning in Chicago, Eric and I woke up early and headed to Skokie to the Westfield Old Orchard Shopping Center to stand in line for the latest of Steve Jobs' inventions, the iPad.
Now I have always been an Apple/Mac fan. I first fell in love with Mac's in high school when I was in journalism class. I used to wait in line in college when I went to the computer lab to use one of the 5 Mac's they had so I could type my papers. The first computer I got after graduating college was a Mac. Due to my financial situation later in life I was forced into buying cheaper PC's and using Windows. I remember the day Windows came out and I looked and said, "Well they are just copying Apple." I never liked Windows, never really liked Microsoft. Bill Gates is doing a lot of good in the world, but the fact that he got rich on a stolen idea, one that keeps needing updates and is prone to viruses...well, I'm getting off track.
When I was able and looking for a new laptop to replace my Gateway that was slowly dying, I bought a MacBook Pro. I got it home, had it out of the box, on and on the internet in less than 20 minutes. I had gotten an iPod back when I lived in Florida and was using it to listen to music while I worked out or go for walks, or just to dance while I did the dishes. My first iPod died before it's warranty ran out and I went to the Apple store and they gave me a new one. No questions asked. When I heard that the iPhone was coming out I had a different type of phone. I thought it was neat, but didn't really want one. I think they were too new. I was also happy with my Verizon coverage and didn't want to switch to AT&T. For my first Christmas with Eric, I got him the iPod Touch, engraved on the back because he too was a Mac Fanatic. I was afraid to touch his iPod Touch, but when I did, I really liked it. So, last October Eric and I bit the bullet and got iPhones. Our contract with Verizon was coming to a close, and I had heard about the new 3GS version and thought it was cool. I have been very happy with the iPhone, loved the Apps, loved that now my music, photos and phone were all together in one place. And although I don't get the best coverage from AT&T at work in downtown Chicago, it works well and I've never dropped a call.
Even though I am a huge Apple/Mac fan, I had never understood the desire to stand in a long line, camp out overnight if needed, and join the masses. I will admit I got gaga over the iPad when it was first announced, even before it was announced in fact. I was at work and watched Steve Jobs sit in his chair in San Francisco and show all the things this "tablet" could do. I wanted one then, but quickly squelched my desires, realizing that there were bills to pay and I already had an iPhone and a MacBook and those would be sufficient to do what I needed to do.
As last Saturday approached though, fate intervened. Eric had recently gotten a job after a long layoff so money was coming in and I had finally sold a saddle of mine (since I haven't ridden a horse for over 4 years now) so I got a check from that. That check was enough to cover the cost of a new iPad, two train passes for the month and groceries for the week and then some...so Eric and I spent an evening on the porch and decided we would go stand in line with everyone.
We called the Old Orchard Apple store on Thursday and was told that mall security wouldn't let anyone line up before 7am and was also assured that they would have plenty of iPads available. So we got up around 6am. Eric had a cup of coffee, and we went to Walker Brothers Pancake house in Wilmette for breakfast. We got to Old Orchard around 7:30 and I was happy to see that there weren't tons of cars in the parking lot. I had seen a story on the news the night before that a woman had lined up on Michigan Avenue on Friday morning so she could be first in line, so I was a bit worried.
When we turned the corner of the mall and looked at where the Apple store was, there was a small group of people. Mostly Apple employees standing around. They were setting up a table from Starbucks to give those of us standing in line free coffee, cookies, granola bars, water, and bananas. The Apple employees asked us if we had reserved an iPad, which I didn't know I could do until it was too late and probably wouldn't have done anyway since this was a last minute decision. We said no and they told us to stand in one line. The other line was for people who had reserved their iPads. We were about 6th in line which wasn't bad. As we waited, the lines kept growing as did the blue shirt wearing Apple employees. They all disappeared around 8:15 am though. I later found out it was so they could see the iPad for themselves for the first time and to get some training on it.
Most of the others in line were holding iPhones, or iPods and were discussing what they were going to do with their iPads. One gentleman was going to use it for two weeks and then give it to his wife when he stood in line in a couple of weeks to get the 3G version. A lot of people had already ordered iPads online, but since those weren't shipping until the 12th, they decided to get one on the first day and then sell it on eBay once they got theirs via UPS. It was a friendly group. A guy a couple of people behind us was on the phone with his parents who were standing in line in Atlanta to get their iPads, and since they were an hour ahead of us, they called him and told him all about it even while we were still staring at the black curtain they had over the store's windows.
About quarter to 9, I had to excuse myself to go to the restroom and as I stepped out of line, there was a big cheer as the black curtain was dropped and there were iPads sitting in the windows. I came back and everyone was taking pictures. We were taking pictures of the iPad, and the Apple employees were taking pictures of us taking pictures. Then they opened the doors and they all ran out and just like at the end of a hockey game or baseball game, they ran down the line and high fived all of us, yelling, cheering, clapping, taking videos, etc. Eric announced "It's kind of like a birthday party at Chili's." Then they all disappeared into the store again and lined up in the store. A few of them came outside and announced to us that they would let 10 people who pre-ordered into the store for every 1 person who didn't. I was hoping this didn't mean we were going to be standing there a long time.
I have to tell you this was a very smooth operation. When you got to the front of the line, someone asked your name and engaged in small talk until it was your turn. Then you were introduced to an Apple employee who took you into the store, past some more cheering, clapping employees, and helped you with your purchase. Our employee was Otis, who was wearing glasses without lenses in them. He was very nice...joked about what we were there for and when I said I wanted the 32 MB version he said, let me grab that before they are all gone. So he went to get that, Eric went to go pick out a cover for his MacBook, and Otis brought me the box and then took me over to the accessory wall to try and sell me more things. I did get a cover for the iPad but nothing else. We gathered our purchases and while Otis grabbed a bag to put it all in, Eric took a picture of me holding the iPad. We were out of the store and back in the car by 9:27am. It was a highly efficient, well run, very enjoyable experience. But something I suppose I've come to expect from Apple.
As a side note, as Eric and I were heading back to the car, a Maserati pulled up with Florida plates and out crawled Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls. He was going to go stand in line to get his iPad too.
After a trip to the grocery store, we drove home and I took out my new iPad. I was thrilled to discover that the first time I turned it on, it still had battery power of 97%. I plugged it into the computer and immediately transferred my iPhone apps and my photos over to the iPad. I also downloaded two apps I had seen on TV. Scrabble was one of those apps and the cool part of that app is that if you are playing with people who have an iPhone, they use the iPhone as their tile holder and then flip tiles from the phone onto the board on the iPad. Cool! But I have to say that the best app is iBooks.
Those of you who are my friends on Facebook, or are even followers of this blog know that I had been debating about getting a Kindle or some other eBook reader for some time. I had decided that it was too expensive and that I really didn't want to stare at a computer screen all day since I did it at work, and again for an hour or so when I got home. The iPad is the perfect eBook reader with their application called iBooks. After I downloaded iBooks, I was thrilled to look upon the screen and see my bookshelf with "Winnie The Pooh" sitting on it. I opened the book and was amazed at how you could turn the pages with your finger and see the print on the back side of the page. I downloaded a book from my list and have already read it, and have downloaded another one. (Review to come.) I do have to admit that it is nice to be able to highlight an unknown word and get a definition right on the screen. And it is also nice to get a book in about 5 seconds compared to waiting for it for 5 days from Amazon. I will never stop buying books at bookstores, but this electronic version is not a bad substitute. I also appreciate that Apple has put classics on iBooks for Free...so you can read "Pride and Prejudice" or "Alice in Wonderland" or "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare" at no additional cost. iBooks has promised that books that contain references to music will have links so you can hear the music and that they are developing books for the iPad that will have videos in them as well.
So I now have a device that I can use as a digital photo frame, a digital library, a music player, a Scrabble game board, surf the internet, read the newspapers, and even check my email. There are things my iPad does that I don't even know about yet.
So, I was the first on the train with my iPad, and I was the first at work with my iPad and although I wasn't first in line, I was glad I got one the first day.
