While many are willing to look all over hell’s half-acre to find a Retina Display iPad mini, I’m willing to bet there’s one source that seekers haven’t checked in with – The wise old sea turtle!
With Apple’s iPad mini with Retina display seeing severe supply constraints at launch, a Web-based tracking tool offering in-store pickup availability has popped up in a most peculiar place: a website dedicated to the conservation of sea turtles.
The webtool, which is part of Seaturtle.org’s iDevice Availability Notifier, shows a snapshot of Retina iPad mini availability from many of the Apple Stores across the country in a grid format. The site also has an easy to use zip code availability checker that can even notify you when it finds a the type of iOS device you’re looking for, including iPad Airs and iPhones.
The site says the inventory checking methods it uses accesses a “publicly accessible XML service on the Apple site” and notes no scraping techniques are employed. Apple shut down a similar type of service last week that scraped data from the Apple website, so you may want to check this source while Apple’s lawyers get the takedown papers ready.
Why would a website that concentrates on sea turtles include an availability checker on the website?
“Because we are Apple fanboys and we want to know when our favorite iPhone model will be available! Also, SEATURTLE.ORG runs on Apple products. From the Xserve that powers this website, to the iMac where most of the programming happens, and the iDevices that allow us to keep tabs on the sea turtle world from where ever we are.”
While the turtle may not know how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop, he apparently does know where to find the hot, and in short supply iPad mini. So, drop by the website and check out which Apple Store has the new mini in stock. And while you’re there, give them a donation. They’re doing some good work there.
