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Business & Tech

iPad 2 Wait Ends in High Fives

Hundreds of customers line up in Carlsbad to buy Apple's newest product.

The Carlsbad Apple Store closed at 3 p.m. on Friday as employees put up full length window drapes so they could privately stock store shelves with the new iPad 2. Two hours later, at shortly before 5 p.m., the doors swung open as dozens of employees streamed out to give high-fives to the hundreds of customers who anxiously awaited their chance to buy an iPad 2.

The , Paul Yorke, had waited more than 25 hours for the moment when he could purchase a 64 GB WiFi iPad 2. He laughed as he described last night, "It was very cold! I can't deal with the cold. But four or five coworkers came by with food and hot chocolate to keep me company."

The Apple Store reported that they had very limited Verizon models and not all of the AT&T models were available, but they couldn't disclose exactly how many models they had in stock. The iPad 2 comes in two colors, black or white, with WiFi and the higher end models can work on either the Verizon or AT&T network.

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The line to buy the new iPad 2 stretched around the side of the store and into the back parking lot. The end of the line could be seen on the other side of Sur La Table from the front of the Apple store. 

The second person in line, Terry, from Encinitas, arrived at 4 a.m. on Friday. Unlike Yorke, Terry said that this is only her second Apple product. Her first was an iPod.

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At the very end of the line was Camille, visiting from Lebanon, who arrived about 30 minutes before the iPad 2 went on sale.  "I like their products and I have an iPhone," he said. He plans to bring his iPad 2 back to Lebanon.

At exactly 5 p.m., the black drapes that hung over the windows were simultaneously dropped as the first customers entered the store. Less than five minutes later, they walked out proudly showing off their brand new iPads.

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