Will You Be Able To Snag An iPad Friday? (UPDATE)

The short answer is maybe.

If you preordered online shortly after the new iPad was announced you’ll be fine.  If you go to Apple’s site now and preorder you’re looking at 2-3 weeks before it ships.

So, if you absolutely have to have one Friday morning you are now left with waiting outside of an Apple Store.  Apple Stores didn’t begin selling the iPad 2 until 5 p.m. on its release day but this year Apple will be opening its doors early at 8 a.m.

I was in the Westfarms Mall Apple Store today and the employee I spoke with said he had no idea how many they’d actually be receiving or even when they would be receiving them.  Usually, he said, they get very minimal hands-on time with the devices before they are available to the public.

He expects people to start lining up sometime Thursday, while these blokes over in London already started waiting outside the store last Friday.

Would you ever even consider waiting outside of a store days in advance for something?

UPDATE: Non-Apple stores including Best Buy, Target, Radio Shack, Verizon, AT&T and Walmart will have a limited inventory of iPads on Friday.

UPDATE TO THE UPDATE: If you are an owner of either a first or second-generation iPad and you’re planning on picking up the new one, Macworld compiled a pretty handy guide for what to do with your original device here.