Countdown to the iPad launch

The countdown is on to the Apple iPad launch, and at this New York City Apple stores fans are ready:

SOUNDBITE: MCCAULEY PETERSON, APPLE CUSTOMER (ENGLISH) SAYING:

" I know it's gotten kind of poo poo'd for being just a large iPod touch but I actually think that's a great idea and I think I will use it quite a lot."

Curiosity is a common theme for Apple fans.

SOUNDBITE: CARMEN, APPLE CUSTOMER, (ENGLISH) SAYING:

I'm hearing good things. I'm still on the fence about it. I have the iPod i have the iPhone I have the Mac so I'm just waiting to see what it's all about."

Research firm NPD group has researched interest in the iPad- and its high.

Analyst Stephen Baker:

SOUNDBITE: STEPHEN BAKER, VICE PRESIDENT, INDUSTRY ANALYSIS, NPD GROUP (ENGLISH) SAYING:

"The intentions to buy depending on the demographic group was someplace around 10% which we thought was extremely high for a product that was over $500 and that really didn't have a clear usage model quite yet. "

Fans are expected to line up outside Apple stores well before it goes on sale at 9am on Saturday. Pre-orders have been so high, the company says online orders won't ship until April 12th.

The iPad is Apple's biggest product launch since the iPhone in 2007. It resembles an iPod Touch but with a much bigger screen designed for web surfing, games and media consumption.

And priced as low as $499 dollars, some believe it could be a netbook killer.

Forrester Research analyst James McQuivey:

SOUNDBITE: JAMES MCQUIVEY, PRINCIPAL ANALYST, FORRESTER RESEARCH, (ENGLISH) SAYING:

" Netbooks are essentially those cheap laptops that everyone bought to consumer media and the iPad is going to do a better job consuming a lot of that media and it's going to be sexier"

But McQuivey warns it's not a total home run for Apple:

SOUNDBITE: JAMES MCQUIVEY, PRINCIPAL ANALYST, FORRESTER RESEARCH, (ENGLISH) SAYING:

"It doesn't give you enough content. It doesn't give you most of the things you want to do online for example Hulu.com, Netflix because it doesn't support flash. These are things that Apple has chosen to do that I think hamper its ability to have the impact that it really could have otherwise."

But with orders already backed up, that may not matter to the Apple fans who can't wait to get their hands on an iPad.

(Reuters)