The New iPad Launches

Just in case you missed the news, today Apple officially launched the new iPad. On my cycle in to work this morning (07:00) I took a quick peak at my local Apple Store in Basingstoke, unsurprisingly the queuing had already begun.

It's interesting to see the diverse set of people that are willing to queue for an Apple product launch (especially in a relatively small town like Basingstoke). I overheard most people talking about their experiences of previous Apple launches, so I assume these are mostly die hard fans!

Needless to say I did not wait in line, but I'll definitely be popping back later to check out one of the demo units.

Apple Opens Basingstoke Apple Store

Several months ago I reported that Basingstoke would be getting an Apple Store, well today it officially opened to long queues, cheering and free t-shirts. The photo below was taken at 09:00.

In usual Apple style, they queued customers outside the store, building the excitement before batching them in. Each new group received a free Apple t-shirt (I think most were hoping for an iPhone) and were forced to high five each member of staff. As always with Apple it was a little over the top, but it did create a good atmosphere with many people just sticking around to watch.

Personally I didn't bother with the queue, but am certainly pleased to have a new Apple Store on my doorstep.

Basingstoke Apple Store - Coming Soon!

If you are one of the 83,000 people that live in Basingstoke and consider yourself a geek (like me) then I have great news. Apple have announced that they plan to open an Apple Store in Basingstoke's Festival Place.

The new store will be located in unit 65, which was previously occupied by The Pier. Anyone familiar with Festival Place will know that this is a big retail store, so big in fact that this will be Apple's largest retail store in the UK, outside of London.

Basingstoke has had an iStore for a number of years, but nothing is better then the real thing and this saves any Apple fanboy from travelling into London or to Southampton for their nearest Apple fix.

For all the details head over to the Basingstoke Gazette.