I had a great idea this morning. I figured I’d head to the Microsoft Store in Scottsdale around 10am, waltz in, buy a Microsoft Surface, and then be out in 10 minutes. I assumed the store would be empty. I mean, come on, this is a Microsoft tablet we’re talking about, and who goes to the Microsoft Store anyway?

I was completely wrong. Microsoft’s new tablet, the Surface RT, may not do everything an iPad can, but it’s drawing some pretty big lines to Microsoft retail stores across the country for its launch this morning.



Once I got to the Microsoft Store I was shocked to see a line of about 125 people waiting to buy the Surface and was told it’d be a two hour wait before I could get in. The story is the same at other Microsoft Stores across the country with people lining up to purchase Microsoft’s hyped tablet that’s supposed to compete with the iPad.

The line at the Seattle stores have been reported to be the largest, but many people in those lines are associated with Microsoft. Microsoft isn’t used to dealing with long launch lines though. A lot of people on Twitter have complained that it’s taking Microsoft retail employees an hour to to get 15 people or so through the line. Apple usually churns through about one hundred or so customers on launch day every hour.

arise

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