Edible Apple

Previously only available from Apple and at Best Buy stores, the iPad this week went on sale at Target. And though Target prominently advertised its newest arrival in its weekend advertising pamphlet, users hoping for a hands-on experience with Apple’s tablet device may be in for a disappointment.

ifoAppleStore reports, having visited a number of Target locations, that iPads there are not ideally displayed, or even available, for customer interaction.

Visits to several Target stores reveal that while a special display has been set up for iPads, the stores are neither displaying or selling the tablet-style computers, which are locked behind glass doors on the bottom shelves of an ordinary aisle. The lack of display and absence of any salesperson requires that customers to expend extraordinary energy to obtain information about the device, let alone to purchase it, a practice that goes against Steve Jobs’ original reasons for starting the company’s retail initiative. The location and presentation is similar to how other mass-market retailers display Apple products, including how Wal-Mart markets iPhones.