The iPad 2 went on sale on Friday March 11th and early reaction to Apple’s second generation tablet was very favorable. Online sales began at 1 am Pacific Time and the initial supply of tablets was quickly depleted. Within a few hours, the shipping date had creeped from two to three days to five to seven days. By the time the sun rose on the West Coast, shipping times for the iPad 2 were already pushed out 2-3 weeks. Those that may have ordered online had to decide whether to wait two weeks for their tablet to arrive or hoof it down to their local store. Judging by what happened on Friday afternoon, many people opted for the latter.
On Friday afternoon, Twitter was buzzing with reports of happy customers waiting in line for their iPad 2. As the day went on, the reports of people walking out with an Apple tablet in hand filled the timeline, while those in the back of line began to count numbers. Hundreds of people were lined up at stores around the nation waiting for hours to get their hands on Apple’s latest tablet device. Once the lines were in full swing, reports of stores being sold out started to hit the news wire. Some stores sold out of the white models, others depleted their 3G supply and some even sold their entire stock of tablets. If you braved the crowds today to snag an iPad 2, share your experiences in the comments.