As the Apple iPad touched down in nine more countries, I trekked to my local Apple Store today in Salem, N.H. to buy one. My wife has expressed interest in one so it was time to spring.

No luck. There’s a 3-4 four week wait for the 64 GB 3G model, two to three weeks for non-3G models. With wide access to WIFI, I  had intended to skip 3G and maybe go for the 32 or 16 GB model, but I usually end up regretting low balling myself.

You also can turn the $30 a month AT&T mobile broadband on and off at will so for extra $130 over the non 3G 64 GB model, why not. It’ll be good for longer trips in the car.

So I gave them my iTunes login and password to get on their notification list.  I have 24 hours to claim it after it arrives in the store. No deposit necessary, but I feel, at long last, committed.

No iPads are sold unreserved and just off the floor. The notification list swallows them all.

Is becoming an Apple customer just a matter of time? In my case, it’s taken decades. After all, I wrote about PCs for the better part of my career.

But someone please tell me if there’s a whiff of anything exciting coming down the PC-Windows world besides some  loooong-talked about tablet wannabes.

Granted, I’ve argued both sides of cheap PCs versus Apple’s superior technology.

Interestingly, the Apple salesperson tried to lock me in a bit more. iPad cases are scarce and they had some in. Buy one now, he advised. Cart before horse, I retorted, being Dodge.

The newly ‘iPadded’ countries are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Switzerland, U.K., Spain and Australia.

So I wait.

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