First iPad buyers excited, curious

Thousands of people emerged from stores across the United States on Saturday clutching newly purchased iPads, the tabletlike computer that's Apple's most-awaited product since the first iPhone launched three years ago.


Some buyers said they wanted a lightweight computer they could carry around easily or use from their couch, while others were diehard Apple fans who said they were eager to possess the company's latest gadget -- even if they're not sure what they'll use it for.

"I don't know what it is -- I just think it's going to be something that's really cool," said Mark Bowling outside an Apple store at Lenox Square mall in Atlanta, Georgia. "I can't figure out how to use it if I don't have one."

Anecdotal reports suggested strong initial consumer interest in the device, which went on sale Saturday morning. At Apple's flagship store on Fifth Avenue in New York, hundreds of shoppers -- many of whom had camped out overnight -- were in line when the doors opened at 9 a.m.

Employees at an Apple store at 14th Street and Ninth Avenue in New York told shoppers they expected to be sold out of iPads by the end of the day, Julio Ortiz-Teissonniere told.

Lines of more than 100 people also were reported Saturday morning outside Apple stores in Miami, Florida, and Atlanta. Rain failed to keep away a crowd of umbrella-wielding iPad buyers outside an Apple store in Chicago, Illinois.

"I'm really excited. I've been craving this for a long time," said a young man who was the first to buy an iPad at an Apple store in Miami Beach, Florida. The man, who gave his name to Miami's WPLG-TV as Frank Gonzalez, held his iPad box over his head triumphantly as other shoppers cheered.

A cross between a netbook and a smartphone, the iPad is a lightweight, portable computer with a glass multitouch screen that wirelessly surfs the Web, displays photos and videos, runs apps and plays games and movies, among other potential uses.

"I've been waiting for this form factor for a long time," said computer programmer Robert Wojciechowski, 31, outside the Lenox Square Apple store in Atlanta.

"I think it fills a gap between the desktop, the laptop and the phone," he said. "It's the appliance that I've wanted on my coffee table."

Other buyers said they were excited about the iPad's potential as an electronic reader whose 9-inch color screen will show e-books plus newspaper and magazine articles.

Mary Inman, 58, said she will take the device on vacations to Mexico instead of lugging five or six books. Inman, waiting outside the Lenox Square store, said she grew jealous of her husband and daughter, both of whom own e-readers.

A self-confessed Apple fanatic, Inman said she already owns two iPods, an iPhone, an iMac, a MacBook and an Apple TV console. "I'm one of those," she said.

Prices for the iPad range from $499 to $829, depending on storage space and whether the device works with a Wi-Fi connection only or with Wi-Fi and AT&T's wireless 3G network.

The iPads that went on sale Saturday at Apple's 200-plus retail stores in the United States, at Best Buy stores and through iTunes, Apple's online store, were Wi-Fi-enabled models. iPads that also work over 3G networks will go on sale in late April, Apple has said.


Saturday's launch was in the U.S. only. All models of the iPad will go on sale in late April in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Anticipation for the iPad's release has been building since Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the device in San Francisco, California, in January.

Tiger Woods says, 'I am so sorry' in public apology

In a tightly controlled televised statement, golfer Tiger Woods gave an apology Friday for his "irresponsible and selfish" behavior.

"I know I have bitterly disappointed all of you," said the golfer, dressed in a blue button-down shirt and a blazer. "For all that I have done, I am so sorry. ...
"I had affairs, I cheated. What I did was not acceptable, and I am the only person to blame."
The 15-minute statement was his first public appearance since his November car crash outside his home near Orlando, Florida -- the beginning of what would become a torrent of bad news for the golfer.

The 11 a.m. ET event, at the TPC Sawgrass clubhouse in Ponte Vedra Beach, was carefully managed, with a small hand-picked crowd as an audience.
Although some members of the media were invited to listen to Woods' remarks, they were not allowed to ask questions. The large majority of reporters and media were housed at least a half a mile away, where they watched the event on television.
Woods' mother attended, although his wife, Elin Nordegren, did not.


Woods spoke slowly and carefully as he stood at a lectern, which held a few pieces of paper.
After he finished speaking, he embraced his mother and a few others in the audience.
The golfer said he has been in therapy for "issues," which he did not explain. "It's hard to admit that I need help, but I do. I have a long way to go," he said, adding that he is taking the first steps in the right direction.

Responding to rumors, Woods said that his wife never hit him as some media reported in connection with the car crash, and that there has been an episode of domestic violence" in his relationship with his wife.

"Elin deserves praise, not blame," he said. He said the answers to questions as to whether he and his wife will remain together are between a husband and a wife.

The golfer's statement came amid the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. Accenture is among the companies that ended its relationship with the 34-year-old superstar.

Accenture spokesman Fred Hawrysh said Thursday that the company did not think Woods' statement would be a distraction to the tournament, which began Wednesday in Dove Mountain, Arizona. Friday's session will begin well after Woods' remarks.

Woods -- who has won the event three times, according to GolfWeek Magazine -- has taken an indefinite break from his professional golfing career.

"I have tremendous confidence in the golf media covering the tournament," Hawrysh said, explaining why he thought the statement wouldn't take away from the golfing event.

Some golfers didn't agree, however. "It's selfish," Ernie Els told GolfWeek. "You can write that. I feel sorry for the sponsor. Mondays are a good day to make statements, not Friday. This takes a lot away from the golf tournament."

The highly managed conditions of the statement also prompted the Golf Writers Association of America -- which was invited to have three members present and then later negotiated to have six -- to boycott the event.

The association's president, Vartan Kupelian, said the group was still covering the event, but was simply not present in the room.

We're not going to have the ability to ask questions, as long as we're just going to be standing there like props, there's no point of us being in the room," he told.

Former sportscaster Pat O'Brien criticized the way Woods seemed to be controlling the news conference.

"He might as well have done this on YouTube," O'Brien said Thursday on CNN's "Larry King Live." "But I do think that he's got to subject himself to some sort of question-and-answer at some point, otherwise people are just going to -- it's already a disaster."

"If you listened to sports talk to radio today, he's just getting ripped to shreds," O'Brien added.
Tiger's agent said the golfer feels many of the issues he is dealing with are private, but he still owes his fans an explanation.

"While Tiger feels that what happened to be fundamentally a matter between him and his wife, he also recognizes that he has hurt and let down a lot of other people who were close to him. He besides let down his fans. He wants to begin the process of making amends, and that's what he's going to discuss," Steinberg said.

Woods crashed his black Cadillac Escalade into a fire hydrant and then a tree on November 27, just a few days after the National Enquirer reported he was having an affair with a New York nightclub hostess, who denied involvement.

Woods' seemingly perfect world began to crumble a day after he paid his $164 traffic ticket as an avalanche of infidelity allegations surfaced, threatening his 5-year marriage to Nordegren.
The couple has two children, Charlie, 1, and Sam, 2.

Woods issued an apology for "transgressions" that had let his family down, as several women reported they had affairs with the golfer -- including one woman who allegedly had Woods on a voicemail recording asking her to take his name off her cell phone because "my wife went through my phone and may be calling you."

Although AT&T and Accenture ended their relationship with the golfer, other companies, including Nike and Pepsi's Gatorade, continue to sponsor him.

Procter & Gamble's Gillette said it would stop airing commercials featuring the golfer for a while.