iPad 2 Goes on Sale at Toys ‘R’ Us, Big Kids Freak
Toys R Us stores have begun selling the iPad 2, underscoring Apple’s disturbingly increasing ubiquity and all-age appeal.
Available at select retail outlets, the popular tablet PC, which adds dual cameras for videoconferencing, loads apps quicker and is smaller and lighter than the original iPad, continues to sell out nationwide. Proving that the difference between grownups and kids is now nonexistent, new shipments are being swept up within as little as an hour of arrival, even at the leading toy chain, an unlikely fit for high-tech luxury goods. Other retailers, including the Apple Store and Best Buy, continue to struggle to keep the iPad 2 in inventory.
A pop culture breakthrough that highlights technology’s growing ability to have an impact on children’s lives, or chintzy marketing gimmick that threatens millions of innocents’ childhoods? The jury remains out for now. Still, it pays to keep a close watch. It’s been a while since we’ve dusted off our copy of the Dead Sea Scrolls (doubtless available as an iBook now). But we’re fairly certain that the sudden arrival of RIM’s BlackBerry PlayBook next to plush Barney dolls counts as a sign of the impending apocalypse.