A follow-up survey from Retrevo has found that while a lot more people have heard of the iPad since the launch, fewer of those people are planning to buy one.

Just prior to the launch of the iPad Retrevo randomly asked a thousand of its users if they'd heard of Apple's new tablet thing, and if they thought they'd be buying one. The exercise was then repeated after the launch to see if perceptions had changed.

Turns out they had: an additional two per cent said they'd "definitely" be buying one, but the number of categorically uninterested rose from 26 per cent to 52 per cent once the full specifications were known.

That still leaves five per cent of respondents saying they will be buying an iPad, up from three per cent who stated an intention to purchase despite having no idea what the iPad could do, what it was for or even what it was called.

Five percent of the US population is a big number, to be sure, but one must remember that Retrevo users may not be typical. The service describes itself as "the ultimate electronics marketplace", and probably attracts more than its share of early adopters who'll rush to have the latest Apple tech.

Everyone else is still waiting to see where the iPad fits in the bigger picture, as borne out by an increase in the number of Retrevo users who are waiting to see what the iPad can do before they'll consider buying one (from 19 per cent to 21 per cent).

We're all waiting to see if the iPad will really change how we interact with computers, or if Apple's really launching another Pippin - the reality almost certainly being somewhere between the two. ®

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