Kevin Tolson from Washington, DC, shows his iPad to journalists in front of an apple store in Bethesda, Maryland, on May 12, 2010. Apple's iPad finally goes on sale outside the United States this week after heavy US demand for the multi-media gadget forced a one-month delay of its international release.JEWEL SAMAD/AFP / Getty Images
Mayhem, muted fanfare, or simply no mustard at all? The iPad, Apple's much-hyped tablet, launches across Canada Friday morning as retailers, tech-heads, and Apple haters attempt to predict what kind of carpet Canadian consumers will roll out for the product.
Employees at Simply Computers in Vancouver would not confirm they had the iPad available, as Apple policy dictates. But store receptionist Lauren Allen said she expected "madness" anyway. "I am prepared for the worst tomorrow, I'm not going to lie."
The tablet device, which costs between $549 and $879 and is a cross between a laptop and a smart phone, sold one million units in its first month after it went on sale in the United States on April 3. On Wednesday, Apple officially overtook PC stalwart Microsoft to become the world's largest technology company. Industry experts linked the company's meteoric rise to products like the iPad and its musical and cellular cousins, the iPod and the iPhone.
Apple stores will open for business across the country at 8 a.m., the company confirmed. Security staff at the Eaton Centre, where Toronto's flagship Apple store is located, said buyers would not be permitted to camp inside the mall overnight. The mall will open at its usual hour of 6 a.m. on Friday morning. At the Montreal Mac store, one employee said she expected line-ups by midnight, if historical experience with the iPhone was any indicator.
Other observers wondered whether die-hard Canadian Apple fans have already managed to buy their iPads. Gary Ng, a part-time teacher in Vancouver who manages the blog ipadincanada.ca and describes himself as an "Apple enthusiast," has owned an iPad since the first weekend of its U.S. launch.
Mr. Ng cited the legions of Canadians who had also bought iPads in the U.S. "Those people are hard-core early adopters, they will do anything to get an Apple product," he said. Still, he anticipates lineups. Mr. Ng predicated that "iPads will definitely be selling out."
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Web commenters, meanwhile, described the buzz as nothing more than zombie consumerism. "There is also no shortage of people that think this will be an absolute success, strangely many of them base it purely on Apple's ability to market rather than the product itself," NormJ wrote at globeandmail.com. "Only time will tell."
On Twitter, users alternated between expressions of excitement - "Woot!" being a common one - and, among those who pre-ordered the device, warehouse-by-warehouse package tracking.
Consumers aren't the only ones driven to hysteria by the iPad. In recent days, several Apple competitors have announced plans for rival tablet devices, including Dell's Streak. Meanwhile, Wired magazine published its first iPad edition this week.
With files from Barrie McKenna