Montrealers line up for iPad2 - Montreal Gazette

They looked to be in line to get into Winnie's Pub, but in fact the swarm of people on Crescent St., three quarters of the way to de Maisonneuve Blvd., were waiting to buy the iPad2 at the Apple Store around the corner.

Laval resident Jonathan Moreau took shifts with a friend on this chilly day from 3: 30 a.m. He had the distinction of being first in the 300-person line. Just before the Ste. Catherine St. store opened its doors at 5 p.m., he said he was a bit cold, but excited that his wait was nearly over.

Just before 5, Apple employees cheered as they lifted a black drape at the front of the store's glass wall to reveal about 50 salespeople inside dressed in blue Apple T-shirts, holding iPads and iPhones and using the devices to take pictures of those waiting in line, who at first seemed too cold to cheer back. But when the door finally opened, the crowd in line chanted and cheered.

The iPad2 went on sale Friday in Apple Stores across Canada, as well as other electronic stores like Best Buy and Future Shop.

Online orders began at 8 a.m., but those impatient ones who felt they needed to buy the device on launch day lined up early in the morning, with about 100 already in line at 9: 30. According to reports, online orders were already delayed for two to three weeks as of Friday morning.

The new generation of the tablet comes with webcams on each side. It's also thinner and lighter than its predecessor and runs on a faster processor.

"It's better. It has better memory and cameras," said Moreau, who already has a first-generation iPad. "I wanted to be sure to get one, because people in the U.S. who didn't get one at launch are now waiting four or five weeks. I don't want to wait."

Toward the back of the line, Halifax resident Venkat Ganapathy, 33, who was in town for a conference, couldn't help but get swept up in the mania.

"I always make fun of people like this, but here I am," said Ganapathy, who said he wanted to get the device for his 10-year-old daughter.

If the experience of the U.S. iPad2 launch from early March is to be repeated, there will be no iPads left in the city as of Saturday morning.

Since coming out with the iPad about a year ago, sales of tablets in general have been swift. Apple sold 15 million iPads in the last year, and has an overall share in the tablet market at around 75 per cent according to market research studies.

jmagder@ montrealgazette.com Twitter.com/jasonmagder