It is NOT about Apple bashing, or comparisons between various mobile devices, nor the manufacturer's thereof. And certainly not the relative IQs, genealogies, or sexual proclivities of the purchasers of various products.
It is my wish that this thread remain unsullied by the loathsome argumentative pissing matches that have destroyed most of the tech threads in the past week or two.
Thank you all for your restraint, and trying to keep to the topic, which again is about the nature of business and restricting buying quantities, the reasons therefor, and related topics.
BTW, this thread is about the free market, the right to do business as you please, and the interesting conflict between Apple's desire to do business as they please (limiting the number of iPads per customer), and the customer's desire to do business as -they- please (buying as many as they want).
I would favor the action on Apple's part, because what Apple is about is making a good product, having high customer satisfaction and supporting their product properly with legitimate customers -- so as to not sully their Trade name, on the open market.
And these measures that they're taking is protecting all these things... the consumer, their good name, their good reputation for customer support and being able to continue to give that good customer support and build up their customer base.
What happens when others do this (who don't care about customers or customer support or Apple's good name in the business or in building the customer base) goes ahead and sells for several times the normal price and the customer can't get support, can't get something fixed (if necessary) and can't get any degree of "customer satisfaction) and sell outside of Apple's market (where they haven't set things up yet to sell there and support the product) -- is that these "product scalpers" (like ticket scalpers) are simply making money off Apple's good name -- but actually destroying Apple's good name.
I think this is an excellent business move on Apple's part to continue building and growing its customer base.
Remember, if the customer has $1000 left over after buying his first 10 units and wants an 11th it's best for Apple that the purchase be delayed several weeks so that the customer buys a new unit from them for $500 rather than have him fork over $700 for a unit Apple already sold to someone else.
Every retailer knows that it's his money in the customer's pocket, and the trick is to get that money into his own pocket ~ and not just handed over to strangers!