Dawn of the iPad

Sunrise over Manhattan's Fifth Avenue Apple Store

Photo: PED

Here it is, 2 months and 8 days after it was unveiled. After 4,390 stories -- including the covers of TIME and Newsweek -- and blogs too numerous to count. After hundreds of thousands of pre-orders and a 36.36 point (18.4%) run-up on Apple's (AAPL) share price.

The iPad -- Apple's latest creation and Steve Jobs' obsession -- goes on sale today.

At 6:15 a.m., as a sun even Jobs can't control rose over the East River, we counted 136 people -- 63 with reservations, 73 without -- queued up in front of the only Apple Store that never sleeps.

Only 2 hours and 45 minutes to go.

See also:

• Who camps out for an iPad?

[Follow Philip Elmer-DeWitt on Twitter @philiped]