For another thing, I was late. My meeting had gone until 3:00 p.m., so I didn't get to the Bay Street mall until 30 minutes later or so. By then, the line was two blocks long. I walked past Victoria's Secret, Gymboree, Sunglass World, Abercrombie & Fitch, and others before I reached the end of the line next to Arts Africains. The line continued to grow behind me, until it reached the end of the block and went around the corner.

Those are two of the reasons I was shivering and sniffling in the gathering dusk at 6:30 p.m. when the guy from the Apple Store finally told us we should probably go home. By then, I'd had plenty of time to wonder what the heck we were all doing there.

Actually, I knew why was there: I'd been assigned to pick up a couple of iPad 2s for the office. (My shopping list: A white 32GB ATT model, a black WiFi with any capacity, and a blue Smart Cover.) It was my fellow line-standers I couldn't figure out.

It's not like the iPad 2 is a mission-critical device for which anyone in line had a truly urgent need. I was standing next to a perky, energetic 'tween who was there with her parents and a friend and spent most of her line-time dashing in and out of nearby stores to get warm. A passerby asked why we were waiting in line and what we were waiting for. "It's the awesomest toy ever," she replied.

The iPad 2 isn't even a truly new device. As Jason Snell put it in his , this version is an evolutionary product, not a revolutionary one.