Thursday, Aug. 05, 2010
Israel Blocks the iPad
Israel is home to some of the most cutting-edge technology in the world, but its gadget geeks fumed for two weeks in April when Tel Aviv barred the introduction of the iPad on Israeli soil. During that spell, any passenger landing in the country with the device had it confiscated and was forced to pay $12 a day to have it kept in storage. State authorities said at the time that the wi-fi functions of the iPad conformed to U.S. standards, not the European ones in place in Israel, and therefore constituted a potentially disruptive threat to the country's military frequencies — a claim with little evidence to support it. The ban was lifted on April 25, after much hand-wringing and with little explanation.