Infographics Showcase

The iPad will hit stores in spring 2010. While Johnny McLameperson whines about what features it’s lacking, make no mistake: he’s hawking your spot in line at the Mac store for the launch day. That being said, you’re gonna need to come up with $729 for the midrange 3G iPad. Here’s a look at what you’ll have to do to earn the scratch to get one.

A coffee barista has to make 8,526 drinks to earn enough tips

Tip your barista for your MochaChocaLatteFrappe. They’re counting on it. On average, baristas make $1.71 per hour in tips. If they made about 20 drinks an hour, they’d have to make 8,526 drinks to earn enough tips to pay for the iPad.

The world’s fastest pizza maker, making minimum wage, has to make 15,000 pizzas

Here’s something to aim for: the world record for pizza making stands at 15 pizzas in 6 minutes (pepperoni, if you were wondering). At this pizza-making rate, a student making the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour would have to make 15,083 pizzas to earn enough money to pay for an iPad.

A waitress at a casual dining restaurant has to serve 211 two-tops to earn enough tips

The average check at a casual dining restaurant is around $23 for a party of 2. With 15 percent gratuity, a waiter or waitress would have to serve 211 tables of two to make enough money in tips to pay for an iPad.

A mason has to lay 4,950 bricks.

A mason can lay, on average, 1,200 bricks per day. With an average hourly wage of $21.74, he’d have to lay 4,950 bricks to earn enough money to pay for an iPad. That’s just four days’ work.

Steve Jobs has to move iPhones for 52 minutes.

You know what there isn’t an app for? Being a mega-bazillionare. In 2009 Apple moved 4,363,000 iPhones. In that same year Steve Jobs made $7.3 million. That’s about $1.65 for every iPhone sold. So to buy himself an iPad (though he doesn’t have to, you know, because he made it) Steve Jobs would have to move 484 phones, which he’d do in about 52 minutes.

Peyton Manning has to pass a football 8.4 inches.

Peyton Manning makes $14 million per year. Super Bowl notwithstanding, in the 2009 regular season he completed 4,500 passing yards (totaling 162,000 inches). If you divide his salary by the number of passing inches, he would need to pass the ball a little more than 8.4 inches to make $729. And just in case you’re wondering, a football is 11” long.

Bill Gates’ heart has to beat 10.5 times.

Bill Gates might be a PC, but he’s laughing about the commercials… all the way to the bank. Last year he made an estimated $2.64 billion (or $83.65/second). What else happens in a second? Well for starters, the average human heart beats 1.2 times. Bill Gates’ heart only has to beat 10.5 times to make enough money to buy an iPad.

Will Smith needs to make .2 seconds of a movie

Will Smith made $45 million off the movies “Hancock” and “7 Pounds.” These movies had a combined run time of 190 minutes (3 hours, 10 minutes). That means he made $3.95/millisecond. He’d make enough money for an iPad .2 seconds into either movie. Is that even possible? Maybe he’ll buy us one too.

Created by Chip Trout