http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/5637/them4wx.png

RICHMOND, Virginia (AP) -- 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 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.

More than 1,000 people turned out at the Richmond International Raceway in hopes of getting their hands on one of the 4-year-old Apple iBooks, which retail for between $999 and $1,299. The Henrico County school system was selling 1,000 of the computers to county residents.

Officials opened the gates at 7 a.m., but some already had been waiting for hours in line. 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.

Police would not immediately comment on the number of or extent of injuries, though witnesses said they mostly had scrapes and bruises.

"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.

Jesus them, calm down!!!

I keep picturing an open wrestling move, wherein one of the guy's friends distracts the other dude...and then BAM!! the guy just BLASTS him over the head with a metal folding chair.[/b]

I'd like to think it was just THEM, but remember these little darlings?



Or this?

[img][465:500]http://home.att.net/~elmo73/TickleMeElmo.JPG[/img]

or how about this?

what the hell is that last thing?

I believe it's a Furby. Not that I would know about that kind of thing.

You have kids, don't you?

me? not yet. unless I don't know about them.

May I just point out that the most civil and fair way to handle this situation would have been to hand computer #1 to line-stander #1, computer #2 to line-stander #2, and so on?

Beaten with a folding chair for a four-year old laptop, huh? Sounds like someone's got his priorities straight.

Do you happen to have a link for this, Busty? I'd like to send it to a couple people.

what? are they nuts? the article writer obviously didnt do any research on ebay before he wrote the article. new ibooks start at 999 and 1299, not four year old ones.

It's on the cnn.com front page.

www.cnn.com

ah, richmond. we rule.

I was just hazarding a guess since you knew what a furby was. Or rather, that THAT particular monstrosity was thusly named.

obviously.

[img][650:434]http://www.hollywoodjesus.com/movie/planet_apes/02.jpg[/img]

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/08/16/comput ... index.html

Well, in his defense, he did say "retail", and not "sell", although he should have used the past tense. Actually, he probably did, and his editor changed it. "Make everything present tense. Exciting, exciting, exciting!"

Nah, I just had a friend who's girlfriend was into shit like that. Fortunately they broke up.

"I don't hate America. I hate Americans. There's a difference." - Bill Hicks

I miss Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom.

Just to clarify, all of us (high school students) in Richmond were given these laptops to use in class and take home (we got them when they were new four years ago) and they were the biggest pieces of shit I've ever seen. I hope all of these people are buying them to sell them to other idiots.

Originally, all of the Henrico County high school students were supposed to be given the opportunity to purchase the laptops their senior year. Seniors who wished to purchase laptops filled out forms stating so, but apparently nobody gave a shit about that. They sold them to everyone else who showed up that morning because they don't give a shit about keeping their word on anything.

My mom wanted to buy one to sell on Ebay, but she said she was glad we were out of town so she didn't have to deal with that shit. How stupid are these people?

The crazy thing about this to me is that the school gave pupils laptops to take home and the pupils actually brought them back.

At my old school you had to bring your own pencil.

wait til they see the shit apple is going to be coming out with in a few months - it will blow their minds.