Killer App & Price
I know that it is not the Apple Way but Apple should have massively subsidised the first batch as a sweetener to get as large an initial roll-out as possible. Say USD500 a pop.
With Apple's massive reserves, they could easily pay for it on the interest they earn from their reserves alone and still have money left over for wheels of a new computer.
And secondly, how hard would it have been to have written a few apps to demonstrate the awesomeness of AR?
Link up with Boeing or Airbus and have an app that shows all of the parts & part numbers of, say, a fuselage listed in front of you as you look at it, along with possible diagnostics, numbers of spares in local warehouse?
Or an app for a surgeon that lists detailed anatomy of a patient opened up for surgery along with possible noteworthy points about what is on screen?
Or an app that shows you, step by step iFixit-style how to repair, say, a bike, a dishwasher and the like?
Or an app that shows you how to cook an elaborate meal along with hints, suggestions and instructions while you are doing it'
Or an app that explains how to solve, say, the maths problem in front of you using a variety of different ways?
Or an app for farmers looking to buy cattle at a cattle mart: display details of the animal in front of you, possible illnesses or injuries not apparently visible, estimated weight and so on?
There is no end of possibilities that AR can't make better.
These would all make for great ads as well thus killing two birds with one stone.
Think of it as being inside a useful YouTube video and it's showing you what to do in real time.