You waited for hours in that line. It was hot, cold, rainy, snowing, windy, sunny, exhausting, tiring, irritating, lonely, funny, strange, whatever. It was unnecessary. Don’t get me wrong, I love standing in line for nerdy stuff as much as the next guy or gal. There’s a certain camaraderie you just don’t get anywhere else. It’s pretty damn frustrating, though, when you find out it wasn’t necessary.

It seems that despite rumors of a day one sellout, most Apple stores across the country still have the iPad in stock. Some have even received second shipments. It’s a good position for Apple to be in, as you can bet there will be those who just had to play with one before they bought it (I’ll admit, I didn’t give two hoots about the iPhone until I spent about an hour with one).

Most of the major retailers seem to have sold out (meaning all of the Best Buy locations) but you don’t have to overpay just to get your new tablet. Head to your local Apple store and your troubles are over.

A few weeks back someone dug up some placeholder SKUs in Best Buy’s database that seemed to indicate the store would be getting the iPad. There was some speculation, though, since it seemed the first run of the device was going to sell out very quickly. As it turns out, the rumors are likely true. Several sites have managed to dig up Best Buy’s “Apple iPad Launch Playbook,” detailing protocol for day one sales of Apple’s tablet.

This is great news for anyone feeling impulsive about the iPad decision. If you haven’t already heard, the first round of iPads is completely sold out. You won’t be getting one from Apple on day one. It’ll have to wait until April 12th. That is, unless you want to hit up your local Best Buy. According to the document some 675 locations will have the iPad in limited quantities.

Source: TUAW

This weekend brought an interesting surprise for anyone attempting to purchase themselves a nifty, new, Wi-Fi iPad. It’s sold out. You can still buy it, of course, but the ship date isn’t April 3rd anymore. It’s April 12th. In-store pickup has been removed as a shipping method as well.

This is a big deal for Apple’s new device. I’m still standing behind the statement that no one really knows what it does. Yes, the promise of apps and the advent of a color ereader are nice, but $500 is a lot for that promise. Will it be that much better than a laptop? We’ll have to see.

Most estimates put the sold-out round of iPads around 500,000. That’s a crapload of units, especially considering that none of them have 3G. I know some people aren’t expecting big 3G sales, but I’d bet the nerds of the world will pick up a 3G unit for the just-in-case insurance. There’s really not a compelling reason to not get one and plenty of reasons for it. Remember, there are no contracts, so you can grab a month of service whenever you need it.

Source: 9to5 Mac