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Mookie
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Great...There will be another sale for any used notebooks/laptops for only $50. Be ready there early...
Va. Laptop Sale Turns Into a Stampede
By KRISTEN GELINEAU
The Associated Press
Wednesday, August 17, 2005; 4:57 AM
RICHMOND, Va. -- 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 as 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.
An estimated 5,500 people turned out at the Richmond International Raceway in hopes of getting their hands on one of the 4-year-old Apple iBooks. The Henrico County school system was selling 1,000 of the computers to county residents. New iBooks cost between $999 and $1,299.
Officials opened the gates at 7 a.m., but some already had been waiting since 1:30 a.m. 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.
Seventeen people suffered minor injuries, with four requiring hospital treatment, Henrico County Battalion Chief Steve Wood said. There were no arrests and the iBooks sold out by 1 p.m.
"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.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
iBook sale creates chaos
BY OLYMPIA MEOLA AND ALEXA WILLIAMS
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT Aug 17, 2005
Times-Dispatch Previous Articles
Supply, demand and security
iRage over iBooks
iBook sale creates chaos
iBOOK: Almost time to go Apple picking
What's another week for a $50 iBook?
Let the iBook buyer beware
Henricoans get first shot at iBooks
Board to ponder change to code
Two say locals deserve iBooks
Sale of $50 laptops moved to raceway
Henrico residents object to public sale of laptops
On your mark, get set . . . $50 laptops
Survey: Laptop program backed
Chaos erupted yesterday morning at Richmond International Raceway as people stampeded through the gates in a rush to buy used iBook laptops for $50 each.
Mothers clutched their children for protection, people screamed as they were knocked to the ground, a stroller was demolished, cars inched through the crowd.
"I can't believe people are so barbaric," said Grace Wang, a rising senior at Henrico County's Godwin High School.
The crowd started forming at 1:30 a.m. as Henrico residents and taxpayers began to arrive. By the time dawn broke, people on foot had formed a line half a mile long. Others waited in cars parked nearby or milled about the entrance to RIR. An official estimate put the crowd at 5,500. Other observers estimated a crowd size more than twice that.
When gates opened just before 7 a.m., the crowd had already grown surly, many in the crowd yelling to police officers who said they were just trying to keep people from "inciting a riot." When the gates swung open, the stampede -- literally -- began.
"We were just coming in the door and everyone was just pushing," said one J.R. Tucker High School student who was sitting on the ground with a bloody foot after getting caught in the rush. "We just fell down and everyone trampled on us."
Several people sustained minor injuries. One person was taken to the hospital with a leg injury, Battalion Chief Steve Wood said at an afternoon news conference. In all, 17 people were treated, the majority for heat- or diabetic-related problems, he said.
Inside the gates, a second crush surged outside the warehouse where the laptops were being sold as people pushed to get through the door. Police struggled to keep the crowd under control and relieve pressure on those at the front.
Lester Caudill consoled his crying 14-year-old daughter outside the warehouse, while waiting for a family member who made it inside. He said his family had waited at the gate since 3 a.m.
"It's like the people are going to die if they don't get a computer," he said. "This is like the last chopper out of Saigon."
The scene calmed significantly when police back-up arrived and barricades were erected. Inside the warehouse, the pace slowed and people civilly purchased all 1,000 laptops for sale.
The schools are getting a new fleet of Dell laptops for high school students and teachers next year, so the county sold some of the Apple iBooks used by students during the past four years.
The sale was originally to be open to the general public but Henrico supervisors changed the county code to give residents or taxpayers first dibs.
Paul Proto, director of general services for Henrico, said he believes the county took all the necessary measures for the sale. Organizers anticipated a crowd and arranged for five off-duty officers to monitor the gate. Back-up officers were soon called.
"What occurred at the gate was unfortunate," Henrico police Chief H.W. Stanley Jr. said. "If we had had 100 officers at the gate we would have had a problem."
Police spokesman Lt. Doug Perry said many responsible residents turned out, but apparently so did some irresponsible ones.
"A few bad apples forced their way in and caused some people to be injured," Perry said. "Our officers immediately took control of the situation with the resources we had here."
Some who had waited criticized the event's organization and offered suggestions, including shutting down the sale amid the chaos or employing another sale method. Proto said setting a firm price is the typical method of selling surplus computer equipment and that auctioning or soliciting bids for the items were not practical options.
Some people managed to make money off the sale -- one man sold his laptop on-site for $200. An eBay entrepreneur was offering 100 T-shirts for $7.50 apiece that read: "I went to Henrico County for a $50 iBook . . . but all I got was kicked in the [vulgarity]." By 7 p.m. a dozen had been ordered.
Donetta Graham, still recovering from a recent back surgery, arrived at 5:30 a.m. to purchase an iBook for her disabled daughter. In line, she was felled by dehydration but maintained her place with the help of a stranger who donated a chair.
She said she was about 10 people away from the warehouse door when the iBooks sold out.
"I'm crushed," she said. "I wanted a computer for my daughter so badly. That's her saving grace -- she's really good on the computer."
Va. Laptop Sale Turns Into a Stampede
By KRISTEN GELINEAU
The Associated Press
Wednesday, August 17, 2005; 4:57 AM
RICHMOND, Va. -- 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 as 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.
An estimated 5,500 people turned out at the Richmond International Raceway in hopes of getting their hands on one of the 4-year-old Apple iBooks. The Henrico County school system was selling 1,000 of the computers to county residents. New iBooks cost between $999 and $1,299.
Officials opened the gates at 7 a.m., but some already had been waiting since 1:30 a.m. 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.
Seventeen people suffered minor injuries, with four requiring hospital treatment, Henrico County Battalion Chief Steve Wood said. There were no arrests and the iBooks sold out by 1 p.m.
"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.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
iBook sale creates chaos
BY OLYMPIA MEOLA AND ALEXA WILLIAMS
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT Aug 17, 2005
Times-Dispatch Previous Articles
Supply, demand and security
iRage over iBooks
iBook sale creates chaos
iBOOK: Almost time to go Apple picking
What's another week for a $50 iBook?
Let the iBook buyer beware
Henricoans get first shot at iBooks
Board to ponder change to code
Two say locals deserve iBooks
Sale of $50 laptops moved to raceway
Henrico residents object to public sale of laptops
On your mark, get set . . . $50 laptops
Survey: Laptop program backed
Chaos erupted yesterday morning at Richmond International Raceway as people stampeded through the gates in a rush to buy used iBook laptops for $50 each.
Mothers clutched their children for protection, people screamed as they were knocked to the ground, a stroller was demolished, cars inched through the crowd.
"I can't believe people are so barbaric," said Grace Wang, a rising senior at Henrico County's Godwin High School.
The crowd started forming at 1:30 a.m. as Henrico residents and taxpayers began to arrive. By the time dawn broke, people on foot had formed a line half a mile long. Others waited in cars parked nearby or milled about the entrance to RIR. An official estimate put the crowd at 5,500. Other observers estimated a crowd size more than twice that.
When gates opened just before 7 a.m., the crowd had already grown surly, many in the crowd yelling to police officers who said they were just trying to keep people from "inciting a riot." When the gates swung open, the stampede -- literally -- began.
"We were just coming in the door and everyone was just pushing," said one J.R. Tucker High School student who was sitting on the ground with a bloody foot after getting caught in the rush. "We just fell down and everyone trampled on us."
Several people sustained minor injuries. One person was taken to the hospital with a leg injury, Battalion Chief Steve Wood said at an afternoon news conference. In all, 17 people were treated, the majority for heat- or diabetic-related problems, he said.
Inside the gates, a second crush surged outside the warehouse where the laptops were being sold as people pushed to get through the door. Police struggled to keep the crowd under control and relieve pressure on those at the front.
Lester Caudill consoled his crying 14-year-old daughter outside the warehouse, while waiting for a family member who made it inside. He said his family had waited at the gate since 3 a.m.
"It's like the people are going to die if they don't get a computer," he said. "This is like the last chopper out of Saigon."
The scene calmed significantly when police back-up arrived and barricades were erected. Inside the warehouse, the pace slowed and people civilly purchased all 1,000 laptops for sale.
The schools are getting a new fleet of Dell laptops for high school students and teachers next year, so the county sold some of the Apple iBooks used by students during the past four years.
The sale was originally to be open to the general public but Henrico supervisors changed the county code to give residents or taxpayers first dibs.
Paul Proto, director of general services for Henrico, said he believes the county took all the necessary measures for the sale. Organizers anticipated a crowd and arranged for five off-duty officers to monitor the gate. Back-up officers were soon called.
"What occurred at the gate was unfortunate," Henrico police Chief H.W. Stanley Jr. said. "If we had had 100 officers at the gate we would have had a problem."
Police spokesman Lt. Doug Perry said many responsible residents turned out, but apparently so did some irresponsible ones.
"A few bad apples forced their way in and caused some people to be injured," Perry said. "Our officers immediately took control of the situation with the resources we had here."
Some who had waited criticized the event's organization and offered suggestions, including shutting down the sale amid the chaos or employing another sale method. Proto said setting a firm price is the typical method of selling surplus computer equipment and that auctioning or soliciting bids for the items were not practical options.
Some people managed to make money off the sale -- one man sold his laptop on-site for $200. An eBay entrepreneur was offering 100 T-shirts for $7.50 apiece that read: "I went to Henrico County for a $50 iBook . . . but all I got was kicked in the [vulgarity]." By 7 p.m. a dozen had been ordered.
Donetta Graham, still recovering from a recent back surgery, arrived at 5:30 a.m. to purchase an iBook for her disabled daughter. In line, she was felled by dehydration but maintained her place with the help of a stranger who donated a chair.
She said she was about 10 people away from the warehouse door when the iBooks sold out.
"I'm crushed," she said. "I wanted a computer for my daughter so badly. That's her saving grace -- she's really good on the computer."
