Apple launches some gadget. Nobody cares.

Total washout in Blighty:

[quote]
Apple Store staff outnumber queues as new iPad goes on sale

Braying hordes of fanbois hungry for new iPads failed to turn up outside
Blighty's Apple stores today despite months of rumour, hype and
speculation. Although slab shoppers were nonchalant in London, they were
positively wet in Scotland.

A queue of hundreds swiftly ebbed away outside the fruity tech titan's
Regent Street outlet, allowing at least one punter who rocked up at 9am
to grab the improved fondleslab five minutes later.
[/quote]

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/0...ueue_hype/

Look at those pictures and tell me that isn't a cult. Seriously, take a
good look. It gives me the creeps just looking at them. Unfortunately
the iCult leaders seem to have lost their flock.

It seems to be the same story across the rest of Europe and Asia:

[quote]
Close to 1,000 people queued up outside Apple’s flagship store in
Manhattan but the iPad arrival drew a muted response in Europe and
smaller crowds than previous launches in Asia for a device short on new
technology.

...

While the almost cult-like status of Apple shows no signs of waning
among consumers, Nath suggested that with Apple co-founder Steve Jobs
now dead the momentum could start to taper off.
[/quote]

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/Display...arch32.xml

"taper off"

Hehe!

Even in iCult Central things aren't looking too rosy:

[quote]
BGR called a dozen Apple Stores in and around New York City between 5:00
p.m. and 5:30 p.m. EDT on Friday in order to find out whether or not
they still had the new iPad in stock. In years past, checks like these
were fielded by apologetic sales associates breaking the news that
launch-day inventory had been completely depleted. This year, however,
we didn’t find a single store in the New York area that reported a
complete stock-out.

Of the 12 Apple Store we spoke with, each and every one still had iPad
Wi-Fi inventory available, with just four stores saying that 64GB models
were sold out in both black and white. Most stores reported having a
significant number of units still in stock and several said they would
likely still have inventory tomorrow. “We have plenty left,” one sales
representative replied when asked if there would likely be any units
remaining later this evening. “Take your time.”
[/quote]

http://www.bgr.com/2012/03/16/ipad-...sell-outs/

Personally I didn't even know Apple was going to dump another iTurd. I
can't even find many news stories on this non-event. Except this:

[quote]
Does the new iPad have a heat problem?

Previous-generation iPads have had heat problems. But the new iPad may
have a unique issue due to the larger battery and chip.

Heat has come up as an issue with previous generations of iPads. So,
that's not news. But the new iPad may have, in select cases, its own
unique heat problems.

User forum postings (here and here) and a report seem to point to heat
as an issue for select users.

The problem area--based on forum links above--seems to be the a hot-spot
in the lower left corner of the unit.

In the worst case, the iPad shuts down and a message pops up, saying
"the iPad needs to cool down," according to a Next Web report (link
above).
[/quote]

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-5...t-problem/

These "select cases" account for 159 messages in two forums thus far,
and one direct report from a ZDNet reporter:

[quote]
The ZDNet post made some not-so-auspicious comments, however, about the
new iPad.

"It felt like a much larger tablet then its predecessor, and far heavier
too," said ZDNet's Hana Stewart-Smith.

And maybe more ominously, she said this: "What surprised me most was the
heat emanating from the device. In the ten minutes or so that I had to
play around with it, I noticed that it became very warm, very quickly,
making me wonder how comfortable it might be for long term use."
[/quote]

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-5...-in-ginza/

Three days in the wild, and the new iPants already has problems.

Oh, and apparently Apple makes "less profit" on it than previous iPants,
which means they "only" make 100% profit on it now, instead of 118%:

http://www.isuppli.com/Teardowns/Ne...rials.aspx

And it was hacked within hours of launch:

http://crave.cnet.co.uk/laptops/new...-50007369/

Meanwhile, CNet asks "Do consumers really understand why they need the
new thing from Apple?":

[quote]
Some people don't have a clue as to why they need the new iPad

Do consumers really understand why they need the new thing from Apple?
No, they don't, in many cases.

Visits to two Apple stores on Friday confirmed my Apple Shiny Slab
Theory. That is, some consumers, deep down, don't really know why they
buy the newest Apple thing.

After attending a meeting in Hollywood on Friday, I stopped by an Apple
store down the street in Century City (aka, Beverly Hills) and another
in Santa Monica. I estimate I spent more than two hours total in those
two stores.

My intention was not only to try to gauge the level of interest in the
new iPad but also to form (I hoped) a bulletproof rationale for
upgrading from my iPad 2.

...

But, ah, that new display. Everybody was obsessing about that. That
glorious, pixel-packing, eye-popping screen.

Too bad most of the people--again, this just an infinitesimally small
sample of people standing at the same table during the couple of hours I
was there--could not see the difference.

They squinted at text, flipped through photos, and scrolled up and down
Web sites. And the refrain became predictable: "Hey, I still really
can't see any difference." Or bottom-liners would just say something to
the effect of: "No diff, man." (The latter group were typically at the
store very briefly and seemed to quickly decide that they weren't
interested.)

...

Almost to a person these people did not seem to be tech savvy. They
didn't come into the store with notions dancing in their heads about
Retina Displays, pixelation, quad-core graphics, or LTE vs. HSPA+.

So, this confirms my Apple Shiny Slab Theory. In short, certain buyers
will, zombie-like, march to the Apple store and part with their cash.
Yeah, they have vague ideas about new cool tech, but it's all very
vague.
[/quote]

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-5...-new-ipad/

Yup, "zombie-like" pretty much sums up iCultists.

K. | "You see? You cannot kill me. There is no flesh
http://slated.org | and blood within this cloak to kill. There is
Fedora 8 (Werewolf) on šky | only an idea. And ideas are bulletproof."
kernel 2.6.31.5, up 40 days | ~ V for Vendetta.