A few people who found themselves wandering past the Fifth Avenue Apple Store in Manhattan on Friday were perplexed by the hundreds of people patiently waiting in line and the dozens of televisions camera crews filming them.
As one man approached and looked at the media crews, he stopped in his tracks and said aloud, "What happened, did someone die?"
"No!" an excited younger man shrieked, "The iPad 2 is going on sale in a few hours!"
Hazem Sayed, an iPhone app developer, was so excited and eager to buy the latest Apple offering that he purchased the first spot in the line for $900 from a college student.
The patience of these customers may have been worth it as the iPad 2 is almost sold out across the country. Those hoping to buy the tablet computer from the Apple.com Web site are being told that estimated shipping times for the device are three to four weeks.
With all the excitement around the iPad 2, App developers are flocking to the new device too.
Ross Rubin, an analyst covering consumer technology at the NPD Group, said the release of the iPad 2 showed that Apple had "more than a year's head start on most of its competitors" because the company had encouraged application development.
"The weight reduction, speed of the iPad 2 and healthy app availability will really help in the usage of the product for consumers," said Mr. Rubin, speculating that competitors are going to be slow to catch up. "Hewlett-Packard should have access to many of the same retail storefronts with the TouchPad but they will be challenged with a much smaller app library."
Greg Claymen, publisher of the The Daily news application, which is exclusively available for the iPad, said The Daily programmers had been focused on optimizing the app for the new features in the iPad 2. "With the first version of the app you can comment on articles using text and audio, now with the built-in cameras on the new iPad, we hope to integrate the ability to make comment with video and images," he said.
Nicholas Callaway, founder of Callaway Digital Arts which makes a number of iPad applications, said his company planned to take full advantage of the updated processor speeds, crisper screen and built-in cameras to take magazines to a "different level."
"A new application we are building for Martha Stewart allows you to make your cocktails and we hope to invite people to contribute their own recipes and cocktails with others using the cameras," Mr. Callaway said.
Although Apple did not disclose the number of iPad 2 devices customers purchased over the weekend, analysts estimated that the company had sold 1 million units since it first went on sale on Friday.
Some had camped out for days, skipping work and showers, with the hopes of being the first to buy the new Apple offering.
Andrew Christian, a pharmacy technician who lives in New York City, said he sold his first generation iPad online earlier in the week and hoped to use the money he made toward the sale of the new model. "I've spent the past 21 hours in the line in the torrential rain," he said; half excited, half exhausted. Apple store employees had handed out bags to help customers keep their shoes dry, Mr. Christian said.