I just read this on a mac site. Wish I could get there.

http://www.henrico.k12.va.us/ibooksalefaq.htm

I'm from there. Stay far away, this will not be a pretty event. For those brave enough to go, good luck.

do you mean by "not be a pretty event" that it will be a mob scene? or that they sell junk?

Edit: nevermind. I just read the link and you probably mean that it will be a mob scene.

An "Appleworks Operating System"....

Shit, be sure to post if there's ever one of these in CT. All you need to bring is a bat..."mob scene" fixed.

Sure would be worth a try.

That is what caught my eye. I've never heard of such a thing. How old are these?

They have OS X on them. Appleworks is merely a productivity suite they have loaded on the laptops.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to get one of these, but yes, it will be a cluster foxtrot.

http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet...=1031784093536

I guess it is gonna be a crazy place.

Only a 1000 for the taking? I wouldn't mind seeing the circus even though I have no want for an iBook....

Just looked it up. Almost a 9 hour drive for me. I'm out.

Does not look like it turned out too good for some people!

http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet...=1031784465530

LMAO, they might as well have been selling paper weights [4 year old ibooks] that's awesome if you don't get killed trying to buy one!

See? I told you so.

"Buncha savages in this town."

and who said the mac was dead?

Greedy bitch deserved to get trampled.

Also makes you wonder how many of those sold will actually be used by the buyer and not put up on ebay once they get home.

That picture is amazing.

Just watched the slideshow. Good gravy!

Link doesn't work.

Aphex Twin,

I hearby charge you with reading the subject header of a thread, the original post, but not any replies. This carries with it a secondary charge of not paying attention to the date.

How do you plead?

Oh my god dudes, this might be related to the sale the OP was talking about!

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/08/16/com....ap/index.html

RICHMOND, Virginia (AP) -- A rush to purchase $50 used laptops turned into a violent stampede Tuesday, with people getting thrown to the pavement, beaten with a folding chair and nearly driven over. One woman went so far to wet herself rather than surrender her place in line.

"This is total, total chaos," said Latoya Jones, 19, who lost one of her flip-flops in the ordeal and later limped around on the sizzling blacktop with one foot bare.

More than 1,000 people turned out at the Richmond International Raceway in hopes of getting their hands on one of the 4-year-old Apple iBooks, which retail for between $999 and $1,299. The Henrico County school system was selling 1,000 of the computers to county residents.

Officials opened the gates at 7 a.m., but some already had been waiting for hours in line. When the gates opened, it became a terrifying mob scene.

People threw themselves forward, screaming and pushing each other. A little girl's stroller was crushed in the stampede. Witnesses said an elderly man was thrown to the pavement, and someone in a car tried to drive his way through the crowd.

Police would not immediately comment on the number of or extent of injuries, though witnesses said they mostly had scrapes and bruises.

"It's rather strange that we would have such a tremendous response for the purchase of a laptop computer -- and laptop computers that probably have less-than- desirable attributes," said Paul Proto, director of general services for Henrico County. "But I think that people tend to get caught up in the excitement of the event -- it almost has an entertainment value."

Blandine Alexander, 33, said one woman standing in front of her was so desperate to retain her place in line that she urinated on herself.

"I've never been in something like that before, and I never again will," said Alexander, who brought her 14-year-old twin boys to the complex at 4:30 a.m. to wait in line. "No matter what the kids want, I already told them I'm not doing that again."

Jesse Sandler said he was one of the people pushing forward, using a folding chair he had brought with him to beat back people who tried to cut in front of him.

"I took my chair here and I threw it over my shoulder and I went, 'Bam,"' the 20-year-old said nonchalantly, his eyes glued to the screen of his new iBook, as he tapped away on the keyboard at a testing station.

"They were getting in front of me and I was there a lot earlier than them, so I thought that it was just," he said.

That school system could have sold the laptops on ebay for like, 5 times that, and had a ton more money to put into the school system. That wouldn't have required any police officers - just one or two people shipping them out as the orders came in.

This is the reason I avoid most of those Thanksgiving day deals. The deals aren't even that great half the time and people are trying to kill each other.

The above post is exactly what should have happened. If they only wanted to sell them to local residents you can still structure your auctions that way and only sell to people that could come and pick them up. This should never have happened.

The could also have let everyone line up at the gate and then hand out numbers starting with the people at the beginning of the line and let 10 go at a time to get their ibooks till all were sold. Everyone that didn't get a number goes home. This should have never happened.

The Mac is definitely alive and well, but some of the users are in bad shape.

Don't even try and compare this to Black Friday. The thing about this whole mob thing is that any one of those people could have avoided getting urine or a folding chair on them if they just didn't care THAT much about getting a cheap laptop. Same for the Black Friday deals. You go to try and get some good deals, but don't have anything in mind that you MUST GET OR YOUR FAMILY/CHILDREN WILL STOP LOVING YOU etc. That's the thing about these mob sales. I'm sure there were lots of ppl that showed up, saw the carnage, and were like "Fuck that" and then went to pee in the TOILET!

Man, peeing oneself in public is about the lowest a human being can get. I'd only do that to save a life.

those pictures were great, but this my favorite..."I thought that it was just"...

I can't stop laughing at this part:

someone in a car tried to drive his way through the crowd.