A Crazy Introduction to Demand

Hey Guys, remember this one is worth some extra-credit! Read the following article and then consider the question at the end.

iBook Sale Creates Chaos
Chaos erupted yesterday morning at Richmond International Raceway as people stampeded through the gates in a rush to buy used iBook laptops for $50 each.
Mothers clutched their children for protection, people screamed as they were knocked to the ground, a stroller was demolished, cars inched through the crowd.
"I can't believe people are so barbaric," said Grace Wang, a rising senior at Henrico County's Godwin High School.
The crowd started forming at 1:30 a.m. as Henrico residents and taxpayers began to arrive. By the time dawn broke, people on foot had formed a line half a mile long. Others waited in cars parked nearby or milled about the entrance to RIR. An official estimate put the crowd at 5,500. Other observers estimated a crowd size more than twice that.
When gates opened just before 7 a.m., the crowd had already grown surly, many in the crowd yelling to police officers who said they were just trying to keep people from "inciting a riot." When the gates swung open, the stampede -- literally -- began.
"We were just coming in the door and everyone was just pushing," said one J.R. Tucker High School student who was sitting on the ground with a bloody foot after getting caught in the rush. "We just fell down and everyone trampled on us."
Several people sustained minor injuries. One person was taken to the hospital with a leg injury, Battalion Chief Steve Wood said at an afternoon news conference. In all, 17 people were treated, the majority for heat- or diabetic-related problems, he said.
Inside the gates, a second crush surged outside the warehouse where the laptops were being sold as people pushed to get through the door. Police struggled to keep the crowd under control and relieve pressure on those at the front.
Lester Caudill consoled his crying 14-year-old daughter outside the warehouse, while waiting for a family member who made it inside. He said his family had waited at the gate since 3 a.m.
"It's like the people are going to die if they don't get a computer," he said. "This is like the last chopper out of Saigon."
The scene calmed significantly when police back-up arrived and barricades were erected. Inside the warehouse, the pace slowed and people civilly purchased all 1,000 laptops for sale.
The schools are getting a new fleet of Dell laptops for high school students and teachers next year, so the county sold some of the Apple iBooks used by students during the past four years.
The sale was originally to be open to the general public but Henrico supervisors changed the county code to give residents or taxpayers first dibs.
Paul Proto, director of general services for Henrico, said he believes the county took all the necessary measures for the sale. Organizers anticipated a crowd and arranged for five off-duty officers to monitor the gate. Back-up officers were soon called.
"What occurred at the gate was unfortunate," Henrico police Chief H.W. Stanley Jr. said. "If we had had 100 officers at the gate we would have had a problem."
Police spokesman Lt. Doug Perry said many responsible residents turned out, but apparently so did some irresponsible ones.
"A few bad apples forced their way in and caused some people to be injured," Perry said. "Our officers immediately took control of the situation with the resources we had here."
Some who had waited criticized the event's organization and offered suggestions, including shutting down the sale amid the chaos or employing another sale method. Proto said setting a firm price is the typical method of selling surplus computer equipment and that auctioning or soliciting bids for the items were not practical options.
Some people managed to make money off the sale -- one man sold his laptop on-site for $200. An eBay entrepreneur was offering 100 T-shirts for $7.50 apiece that read: "I went to Henrico County for a $50 iBook . . . but all I got was kicked in the [vulgarity]." By 7 p.m. a dozen had been ordered.
Donetta Graham, still recovering from a recent back surgery, arrived at 5:30 a.m. to purchase an iBook for her disabled daughter. In line, she was felled by dehydration but maintained her place with the help of a stranger who donated a chair.
She said she was about 10 people away from the warehouse door when the iBooks sold out.
"I'm crushed," she said. "I wanted a computer for my daughter so badly. That's her saving grace -- she's really good on the computer."

QUESTION:

Where did they go wrong???