Opinions - I’d queue for the toilet, but not an iPad

[Biscuit]

i would use my smartphone and look up reviews ont he internet

[TheAnimus]

i would use my smartphone and look up reviews ont he internet

So damn true.

But when abroad what do you do?

Do you trust the concierge's advice? Do you try and ask one or two questions to make sure its truely better and serves the kinda thing your after whilst subtly telling him you'll be pissed off if its bad and just for a back hander.

I know I have gone to a place just because it had a lot of 'local looking' types in it.

[sondra234]

in Munich there was also an incredibly long queue! you can watch it on youtube if you want, search for ipad 2 launch in munich

[usxhe190]

This whole queuing thing is great sales and marketing tactic. Lots of companies do it now. Not just for products, but movies, end of year sales, etc etc...

[crossy]

Perhaps no one on Hexus has ever queued for a new toy. But I know many pre-orders games even before reviews are out. It's good seeing studios getting support, yet it's not strictly that rational. We can also see people getting excited about new games as release date nears. So I can see how people can get (irrationally) excited from waiting for something new. Maybe not to the extent that they may not be willing to queue (then again, I wonder if no one in Hexus have queued for SC2), but enough to pre-order.

Like you I can't see the point of queueing up ... unless you're a total fanboy of whatever it is (iWhatever, CallOfDuty, etc). On the other hand I will leap to the defence of the pre-order. Mainly because:
1. If you pre-order you can end up getting said product before the pavement sitters - as someone on this thread has said about a 3DS order from Tesco. To me this is hilarious, not only do you get it before them outside, but also save some much-needed sleep!
2. Loyalty points - both HMV and GAME offer more "loyalty points" for pre-orders than day1+ orders. So if you were going to buy the damned thing anyway, then you'll get a small(?) benefit for not hanging around. In addition, if I'd bought an iPad2 then I would have done it through the Apple (online) Store via the Nectar.com portal. That way not only do I get it with the minimum of hassle, but also with £500 worth of Nectar points that the rabble on the street are missing out on.
3. Delivery. Let me see, on one hand I've got to schlepp into town, find somewhere to park, etc. And on the other hand I get to sit in the chair and just wait for the postman/courier to come to me. Hmm, not much of a decision there then!

Because it isn't an alternative to a laptop. You probably wouldn't write a 25,000 word dissertation on an ipad, but if you want to have a quick look at Hexus while you are sitting in front of the TV, is it easier to pick up an Ipad, or sit balancing a clamshell laptop on your lap? Probably easier to use the ipad.

Or use a fast-booting netbook - then you could write that 25k word dissertation. And a large screen (4") mobile is just as "instant-on" as the iPad. Like others on this thread, I just fail to see why any £400+ tablet isn't just a piece of digital bling, rather than something with genuine capability.

Apple sell a tightly integrated product, hardware and software are very tightly integrated and controlled. The user experience across the Apple range is consistent. And the products work, out of the box, and they work well ...

... most of the time. There fixed that for you.

I have some friends with smartphones. One is a Samsung Galaxy with Android - its a good phone, but she can't wait to get rid of it and get an iphone like her husband. Why? because there is noticeable lag when operating any of the touch screen controls, the iphone just feels more responsive.

Sounds like an OS update is needed on the Galaxy - although Samsung do seem to have a few quality control issues with their software. Oh, and my old X10 phone is just as responsive as the iPhone4 (I'll grant that the 3GS might be a bit quicker for some stuff), but without the clock and signal issues. (sorry that's a bit off topic)

I don't own any Apple kit apart from a very old ipod (2nd generation) but when I look to replace my 'phone I will certainly be looking at an iphone - simply because I know what I'll be getting - and that is why Apple products sell well.

Shame that their customer service is below par and, according to the trends on the Apple support site, getting worse. Granted the main problems seems to be the (ironically named) "Genius Bar". Strangely enough I'll be avoiding Apple's telephony* products because I know what I'll getting if I went with one - frustration being prime. (* If they do new version of the iPod Classic with decent DSP's then I'll be interested - before someone accuses me of too much Apple bashing).

But, ymmv of course...

[Noxvayl]

Where does this need of labelling people come from?

It comes from the environment we have created for ourselves where money is more important than anything else. Money itself is a label we assign value to, so it's hard for people to have so many things labelled and not create labels for that which isn't.

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I find the arguing over different operating systems and different approaches to devices as mute. It's all subjective and depends entirely on the environment the person in question is in and the information they have been exposed to. I like the fact that we have so many options for smartphones, and I also like to leave it at that. What I need can be very different from what someone else does and thus phones I find pointless exist to serve those needs. If a phone I dislike serves you well, good. Don't expect me to like it though.

[Saracen]

I guess it's all about people fulfilling their wants, and in this case, they 'want' to be one of the first to own one. Personally, I regard it as kind-of daft to queue like that, and I'm struggling to think of anything I want bad enough to queue like like for the privilege of paying premium prices for it. I'd much rather wait a few weeks/months, and see if the price drops, which it usually does. Then again, it'd have to drop a LOT from what Apple charge to get me to part with money for one, because I don't think they're worth anything like the price.

But that opinion on value for money is why, or at least part of why you wouldn't find me queueing. But .... if it is worth it to someone else to be among the first, then it's worth it to them. Who am I to criticise, just because it isn't worth it to me?

[aidanjt]

Criticise? Perhaps not. Ridicule, on the other hand, fair game!

[TheAnimus]

But that opinion on value for money is why, or at least part of why you wouldn't find me queueing. But .... if it is worth it to someone else to be among the first, then it's worth it to them. Who an I to criticise, just because it isn't worth it to me?

It is an interesting point thou, what is value for money. The more I study economics (just as a hobby, not sure I'd like to do a MSc just yet) the more you learn that its very hard to define a non-local unit of measurement. I wouldn't pay £1.10 for a bottle of water right now. Yet ask me in the middle of no were, in a heatwave and I'd gladly pay it. The value of anything often depends on who has it.

I remember someone telling me that the Audi TT was one of the most highly sold on credit cars at the time (as a ratio of sales) and it sort of fits the stereotype! Clearly these people felt it was worth getting into a lot of debt (almost certainly negatively eq) for.

I would love to know, honestly, the average % that these people are spending on their iPads as a ratio of 'disposable income', ie net - (housing cost + utilities).

Because I think it would be interesting, from looking at some of those who were queuing in London they don't strike you as the kind of people who have oodles of spare cash, some couldn't even afford a hair cut

The other, which would be curious is what they actually use them for. I know one person who is still using their iPad on a regular basis (about 4 hours a week), and been a geek, I know quite a few people who bought em.

[Saracen]

I guess a large part of value for money is subjective as it comes own to what your need is, and what "utility" you'll get from your purchase. And "utility" is a very and subjective wide term. The value of a bottle of water if you're in a desert and dying of thirst is an extreme, but apt, example.

But it's not just about "need" but "want". I bought a BMW M3, and paid cash (well, cheque, actually). I wouldn't have bought it if I'd had to use credit to do it. But I wouldn't buy an iPad at anything like the current price. Partly, that's because I think they're over-priced for what they are, and partly because I neither want nor need one, certainly not at that price.

But I didn't need the M3 either. Any number of other (and cheaper, to buy and run) cars would have provided adequate transport. I just wanted the M3. One of my friends said he'd never buy a car like that new, as I did. He'd buy one a few years old and save a lot of money. I bought one new because I wanted it spec'd how I wanted it, and because (along with a few other reasons) because I wanted to avoid the hassle of worrying about how it'd been used (or abused) if I bought it a few years old. And I was prepared to pay for the privilege.

The "utility" in the M3 was that it was what I wanted, I could afford it and it was worth the money to me.

That's why I'd neither criticise nor ridicule someone for buying an Ipad if it's what they want. It's about what it's worth to them, and the fact that it's not worth anything like that much to me speaks to my values and wants as much as, or more than, it does theirs.

That's also why you'll rarely (if ever) find me criticising Apple's pricing policy. I suspect their pricing policy, as with iPhone, iPod, etc, isn't aimed at mass-market, sell-the-max-quantity. It's aimed a notch or two above that, at those that want and will pay for not just the hardware but the image, too.

And it's a policy that's stood all sorts of companies in good stead. Why pay Rayban prices for sunglasses? Why pay Rolls Royce prices for a car? Why pay Rolex prices for a watch? Why pay <insert name of choice> prices for designer clothes?

Personally, I would, and sometimes do, pay a reasonable price for good quality clothes, but that's for comfort and durability. I would not pay, picking a name out of thin air, Levi prices for jeans. So, currently, I'm wearing a pair of £3 Asda jeans, and a shirt from a Jermyn Street tailor that was a LOT more than £3. Nobody other than me is likely to have a clue what the shirt cost, so it certainly isn't about 'image'. I just like the feel of the cut and the quality (and longevity) of the material. But with the jeans, as far as I'm concerned, George or Levi, the result is the same. But that's me. If someone else wants Levi (or whatever) jeans because of the name, it's their call, and their money.

[pipTheGeek]

Well said. I have a few friends who can't seem to understand "because I wanted it" as justification for spending what they consider silly money. Most often commented on is my 50mb broadband, or my contract smartphone. I don't download vast amounts from torrents or p2p and a few months ago I had used less then 20 seconds of my 600 minutes talk time.

Even so, if you want (or need?) an iPad then order it online, I still can't see how you could want something so badly that you are prepared to go camp outside the shop.

[crossy]

Well said. I have a few friends who can't seem to understand "because I wanted it" as justification for spending what they consider silly money. Most often commented on is my 50mb broadband, or my contract smartphone. I don't download vast amounts from torrents or p2p and a few months ago I had used less then 20 seconds of my 600 minutes talk time.

I've used that "excuse" myself - but there's the question of scale. At a time when the current group-of-idiots-in-charge seem determined to make everything more expensive, the amount of "disposable" income is a lot less.
For myself I'm finding it really tricky - upgrading my broadband (to Virgin's 30Mb service) was easy to "justify", after all I work from home so it's really a business decision.
But the fancy smartphone was less easy to work in - 2 year contract at £30/month. I still kind of managed it. But a one-off payment of the kind of money that they're wanting for an iPad2, especially when I've got a pretty usable phone and netbook? Not a chance! I'm not really singling out the iPad1/2 - my question is just as valid for Motorola Xoom/Samsung Galaxy Tab/HP Touchpad/etc.

Getting back to the article, after thinking about it, I think the only reason I'd queue in the cold/rain/late for some gizmo/game would be for the sense of "community" - certainly not for some nebulous "I was amongst the first" justification.

[Stringent]

I won't queue for anything new to be the first one to get it any more. Why? Early adopters face problems in most cases. Take the iPad 2. Screen bleed issues. OK so the majority of screens have it anyway, but not as bad as I have seen it on the iPad 2. Its awful. I'd rather let the issues come out first, then wait till they are sorted then maybe get one. So if you queued for ages waiting for your new toy and it has a problem, you are probably going to have to wait longer just to get it resolved.

I did queue up for the iPhone 4 when Covent Garden Apple store opened. Never again, I'll stick to a preorder (although for Apple, I don't think they will now, they didn't allow preorders for iPad 2) and wait if I really want something. As said earlier it works for games pretty well.

Credit where credit is due Apple do know how to sort out and hype up a launch of a product.