CENTURY CITY (CBS) — Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is one of thousands of customers who camped out overnight in hopes of scooping up the third version of the iPad, which went on sale at 8 a.m.

Wozniak tells CBS2 he arrived at the Apple store in Century City on Thursday afternoon to make sure he gets the new model, which comes with a faster processor, improved camera and sharper screen.

He says the new iPad is such a great device that he had to come wait in line.

“Just the significance of how important a product it is. It’s just one of those special days,” he said. “It’s like celebrating a holiday.”

“Don’t you own like a gazillion shares of Apple? Couldn’t you have just ordered one?” CBS2’s Joy Benedict then asked Wozniak, who is worth an estimated $100 million.

“I could, but that doesn’t get around the fact that you have holidays that come up, and yeah, you observe them,” he said. “I really can’t give a reason. It’s partly because I’ve been doing it and – in the early days because I had to – and now because I enjoy talking with people, meeting the people who are in line, getting their sentiments, finding out what their life is like.”

Thousands of customers were lined up at stores across the Southland hoping to get an iPad, which is already back-ordered online.

Worth an estimated $555 billion, Apple is now the world’s most valuable company.