EVERETT — When Tyler Pruitt lined up to buy his iPhone, he knew what he was paying hundreds of dollars for: a new cell phone that promised to be better.
He plans on lining up again Saturday morning at Lynnwood’s Apple Store to get the first iPad, but he’s a little less certain about what he’s buying.
“I use my iPhone so much and I always feel a little restrained because of the (3.5-inch screen) size,” said the Everett 27-year-old. “I’m really excited to use the iPad.”
The iPad’s 9.7-inch screen and the opportunity to sit on the couch and read magazines and books without lugging a bunch of paper around has Pruitt psyched about Apple’s new product. “I can’t wait to see what magazines will do for it,” he said. “You should be able to read the better part of a page on the screen.”
Like Pruitt, plenty of people seem ready to drop $500 or more for a device they’ve never seen in the hopes that it will be the missing link in their digital lifestyles.
“If Apple sold groceries, I would buy groceries from them,” says Matthew Rice, who works for Merck &Co.
Apple won’t say how many iPads it sold in advance, and it’s hard to predict how many enthusiasts will camp overnight and swamp Apple stores when the doors open Saturday at 9 a.m., as they did last summer for the latest iPhone. That happened even though people could pre-order the device, just as they can for the iPad.
Rice won’t be ripping open any boxes Saturday, but only because he chose an $829 iPad with a “3G” data connection, which won’t ship until late April. Pruitt said he’s getting the Wi-Fi model because he already has a 3G connection for his iPhone.
On Wednesday the Silicon Valley venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield &Byers said it is so excited about the iPad’s potential that it is adding $100 million to its fund for investing in developers who make applications for Apple devices. The firm began its “iFund” two years ago with $100 million.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
