I Will Never Wait Overnight At Any Store

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Today is a wondrous day.

No, it’s not my birthday.

Nor is it a holiday.

It may not even going to be a beautiful day weather-wise.

So what makes this such a wonderful and amazing day?

It’s the release of some new tech day!
People had been waiting for months for Apple to release the specs for their latest generation iPad, and the internet was abuzz when it finally did so at the iPad unveiling in California in early March.

With the announcement came the countdown to the actual product release day, which gave consumers only nine days to make their arrangements and get their money together.

Well, that day has finally arrived for the techno-freaks and Apple fanboys/fangirls out there.

Looking on eBay, some auctions are actually going for more than the retail price of the models being sold.

The demand is so high, that people are selling a place in line in front of stores.

In other words, they aren’t camping out all night to get an iPad for themselves, but rather to sell that spot to another person.

But, hey, at least they are making money off of the ridiculousness, rather than wasting time simply to be one of the first to get their hands on Apple’s shiny new product.

Personally, I would never wait in line at a store, especially overnight or for multiple days, to buy anything.

I think it’s ridiculous.

To give up that time just so I can say that I got something the day it comes out in the case of this new iPad, or to save a few bucks in the case of Black Friday deals makes no sense to me.

There’s no special prize for getting a newly released product the day it becomes available to the public.

If I needed to camp out overnight (or for days) to be able to afford something, then I really don’t need to be spending my money on it in the first place.

I like my sleep too much.

I’d rather use my sick/paid time off from work in more constructive ways.

I value my time at such a level that waiting in line for hours or days just makes no sense to me.

Those are just some of the reasons why I would never bother doing something like this.

For me, it makes way too much sense to wait for a place like Best Buy to get their regular shipment in stock, order online, and then swing by to pick it up at my convenience.

It’s a much quicker and efficient way to go about it, and I don’t lose any time, sleep, or earning power in the process.

Easy peasy.

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24 Comments

  1. There’s a few things going on here. First, when was the last time you saw a non-Apple product create this kind of excitement? News coverage for a product going on sale? This in itself is amazing. That they do it again and again is remarkable.
    I waited on line to see Star Wars, 1977. I waited for Springsteen tickets, 1980.

    I’m a Mac fan, and when the first iPad went on sale, I called to check stock and after a time, the stores started waiting lists, so I got the call when mine came in. I skipped the 2 but plan to get the 3. I’ll wait till there’s stock, but I do understand the excitement these generate. When I hear criticism (not from you, you were rational in this article, I’m talking nasty remarks about line waiters) I respond that we should aspire to create more products that can generate this kind of buzz not diss it.

    1. I also plan on waiting until the regular stock gets to stores.  Plus, I don’t think people will accept my playing with my new toy as a good reason for why their tax returns aren’t getting done!
      I actually held back in my criticism of the line waiters a little bit.  Personally, I think it’s nuts to spend an entire day or more waiting for a product if it isn’t in limited edition.  You mentioned the Springsteen show, which to me is worth waiting for, as you never know how long an artist’s career will last, and when they are that huge it could very well be a once-in-a-lifetime event.  But for a tablet or when Microsoft released Windows and people waited in line, that to me is extreme, especially when you know a few weeks later you can get the same exact version without any of the hassles or interrupting your life.

    1. I’ve never waited for anything, except when it comes to going into a sporting event or concert, but that’s different.  I prefer to go about my business like normal and simply order stuff for pickup or delivery rather than waste time like that.

    1. Even then, I can see it interesting me very much.  I value my time way too much, and if you think about it how much fun can actually be had standing in the same spot for hours?

  2. I would never wait in line – I couldn’t believe that someone had sold their place in line for the iPad 3 for $1,000!  What is funny is I walked into my local Target store at 6pm on the release day, and they still had them in stock!

    1. Yeah, the lengths that some people go to just to be “cool” is crazy.  I got mine without any hassles or lines, and I didn’t have to pay a premium either.

  3. I read a great post on an Apple oriented blog today that said the best place to buy a new Apple product is at an Apple Authorized Reseller.  Unlike the big box stores that sell out due to limited stock, AARs tend to have many more.  The blog writer walked in to one (no line) and out with a new iPad.

    1. I would have to agree, except not with the big box part. never go direct or else you may face serious headaches.  I just happened to go online to Best Buy’s site, and was able to order it for same day pickup.  I went into the store at 11:00 and walked out at 11:07.  No hassles, no waiting, no camping, nothing.

  4. I’m with you.  When I first read your title my eyes played a trick on me though and I thought the word “again” was at the end so for a sec I thought you had actually gone out and stood in the iPad line haha.  I’m glad you didn’t!  I think it’s totally silly that people camp out but I guess they have nothing better to do.

    1. I actually love how my purchase turned out.  Even though I did have to wait 2 whole, long days I was able to get mine very easily.  It was a 7 minutes process from the time I walked in the store to the time I reached the sunlight of the exit again.  Not a bad way to spend 7 minutes to accomplish the same task that others spent days doing.  And I bet theirs is no different than mine!

  5. I’ve never been an Apple person, and it seems like they really corner the market on those people who are willing to wait in line all night. For me, there’s precious little I’d wait in line for… maybe an exceptional deal (a la Black Friday) on a much sought after piece of electronics, but just because something is new? Nope,not that cool.

    1. Even on Black Friday, I stay away, tucked nice and comfortably in my bed while the crazies line up to bum rush store doors.  Even for a “great deal” I’ll pass and use online ordering if it’s available.  besides, the way I see it, if I need to go through all of that hassle to buy something then I really didn’t need t in the first place.

  6. I never understood the standing in line thing.  I mean you really can’t wait? is it really THAT important to have an Ipad3 over an Ipad2?  I have only stood in line once for more than an hour and that was for a black friday sale where I was saving a couple hundred on a tv.

    1. To me it wasn’t that important, but then again, I never owned an iPad before.  Even after buying my first one and loving it, I still wouldn’t feel the need to wait in line overnight for a future version, regardless of how cool it was.

  7. Back in college I waited overnight two or three times to get concert tickets.  Those days are long gone as Internet ordering has taken that industry over.  It was fun and a thrill, but there is no desire for me to do that ever again.

    1. Those possible once-in-a-lifetime moments are the only things I can justify waiting in line so long for.  That being said, I never did it myself.  Now, I have come to appreciate my sleep too much to lose any of it just so I can wait in a line for something

  8. I’m with you Eric, I despise waiting in line for just about anything. Universal Studios is about all I can handle, although I did wait to see Star Wars Episode 1 when it opened at midnight in theatres worldwide…that was pretty cool.

    1. I’ve completely given up on going to the theater to see movies.  Too many have been way over-hyped and I end up leaving disappointed or frustrated.  Give my my couch and a stocked fridge any day!

  9. I attended a midnight release of the seventh Harry Potter book – does that count?  I don’t remember being in line, I think we just got numbers and wandered around the store until midnight.  And yes, I was in costume.  🙂

    I like Apple products but I don’t care about being an early adopter, so I wouldn’t wait in line for any of their stuff.

    1. That’s totally different, I think 😉  It’s not like you had to camp out there or anything like that.  The costume part isn’t something I would do but I’m not a free spirit in that regard anyway.

      This is actually my very first Apple purchase, but after a week, I can already see why so many people swear by them.  But, I still can’t see myself giving up Windows any time soon.

  10. I would never, ever wait in line for something, especially overnight. My brother waited in line over night for the new Call of Duty game, and I just didn’t get it. Why can’t you wait a week? Haha.

    1. I’ve haven’t been into video games since my freshman year of college in ’96 so that completely is beyond me.  I guess after a week of playing those who got it early are already sick of it and he’d have no one to play against?