By SteveJack
For multiple iPhone launches, when Apple failed to have adequate supply on hand to satisfy demand, the company had a functional and useful “iPhone Availability Tracker” online for iPhone hunters.
Obviously, iPad 2 demand is far outstripping supply, so where is the “iPad 2 Availability Tracker?”
Hello, Apple?
I only ask because it would be logical to have provided such a tool already and because Apple’s own retail employees probably have better things to do than answer, “No, sorry, we don’t know when we’ll be getting another batch in” all day long to phone callers asking, “Do you have iPad 2 in stock?”
I just called five U.S. Apple Retail Stores (east coast, west coast, north, south, and one right in the middle of the country) and asked if they had iPad 2 units in stock. Of course the answer was no, but I also asked if they were getting a lot of iPad 2 availability phone calls. Each employee said, basically, “You don’t know the half of it.” Each employee also seemed to be straining to sound helpful and cheerful, considering they had probably been asked the question hundreds of times already today.
Does Apple enjoy torturing their retail employees and potential customers for no good reason? It sure seems like it.
One would hazard a guess that the code for the tracker exists, still tied into the retail stores’ inventory system, and that it would be rather trivial to turn it back on for iPad 2, right?
For reference, Apple’s availability tracker looked like this:
Maybe Apple doesn’t want to put up red squares for every store, but at least they’d be giving customers some useful information while also giving their own retail employees a break from repetitive and totally unnecessary phone calls.
Come on, Apple, get on the ball!
SteveJack is a long-time Macintosh user, web designer, multimedia producer and a regular contributor to the MacDailyNews Opinion section.