iPad launch: Santa Monica Apple Store

It was actually a low-key affair at the Santa Monica Apple Store on the Third Street Promenade this morning. About an hour before the store opened for business at 9am PST, there were only about 100 people in line, and by the time all of the Apple employees moved outside, clapping and trying to get the sedate crowd to show a little excitement about emptying their wallets for the Church of Jobs, there were probably at most 500 people. But the gathered took the launch in stride -- the mood was cordial, the media were few, and most everybody just walked in, grabbed their iPad, and headed out without fanfare.

You can see pictures of the goings-on in the gallery below. This store is usually frequented by at least a few celebrities, but we didn't recognize anybody specific, so see if you can catch one we missed in the pictures. All in all, it was about as smooth a launch as you could ask for -- aside from the folks who walked by asking what the line was about, and then turned away in an eye-rolling huff when they were told about "some iPad doohickey," everybody had a pretty good time.