iPad 2 hits shelves

The much anticipated day, March 11, 2011 marks the availability of the iPad 2. Apple fanatics waited as much as 28 hours in line outside the Apple store on Fifth Avenue in New York City to get their iPad 2 first. Some buyers shopped for themselves and their business, some for family in other countries and even some bought them just to resell them at $200 markup. In Austin, TX Apple opened up a pop-up location in the downtown area just to handle the rush. Eager buyers traveled such long distances as South Africa to Austin, TX or Russia to NY to get these iPad 2s as early as possible. The iPad 2 did become available today in the United States, but it will not see widespread availability until March 25 when it becomes available in 26 other countries.

iPad competition

The brief eleven months between the release of the iPad and the iPad 2 showed us the birth of the major competition in the tablet market. Nearly every electronics company has either released or announced production of a tablet PC. Notables include Samsung, Motorola, LG and Dell.  But as a consumer it feels that the competition is more than one sided, in fact it is dominated by the iPad. It seems as though other companies tablets are being pushed forward as a desperate attempt to cut into Apple's hold on the market. None seem to compare technologically or aesthetically to the iPad, and probably will not hold a candle to the faster and smarter iPad 2.

iPad 2 hype

The much anticipated iPad 2 will be released this Friday. I wonder how tomorrows sales will compare to the first day of the original iPad.  The first edition was able to move 300,000 units on its first day and reached one million sales in just 4 weeks. A few changes in the updated version include two cameras and the unit will be lighter and thinner. The new iPad will be the same price as the original upon release $499-$829 with the same range of storage and internet options. As a user of an original iPad I feel that any improvement upon the trendsetter in the tablet market will prolong Apple's hold on the competition.