Books Have Better Heat Tolerance Than iPad
A group of plaintiffs from Oakland have discovered that the iPad is prone to overheating when left in direct sunlight or used in an area with high ambient temperatures. They have filed a lawsuit against Apple accusing the company of deceptive advertising, fraud, selling defective tablet computers, and violating California's consumer protection and unfair business practices laws.
All this because they believe that the iPad is marketed with the claim that "reading on iPad is just like reading a book." The disaffected iPad owners were apparently tricked into spending over $500 on an iPad in the belief that it would be perfectly usable in the same weather conditions outdoors as a paper book.
NEWS FLASH: The iPad is a computer. Direct sunlight and hot environmental conditions do not agree with LCD screens and microprocessors. In fact, try reading the iPad in wet conditions or at the South Pole. Best of luck, folks. I mean, does the iPad even look like a book?
The complaint asks for class action status and states, "Using the iPad is not 'just like reading a book' at all since books do not close when the reader is enjoying them in the sunlight or in other normal environmental conditions. This promise, like other portions of Apple's marketing material for the iPad, is false." Also unlike books, the iPad requires periodic charging with an electrical outlet, cannot be written directly on with pens or highlighters, and lacks a decorative hard cover.
When the iPad was first released, there were concerns that some units were affected by abnormal heat sensitivity, as many devices shut down unexpectedly. Apple has officially listed the operating temperature of the iPad as 32 to 95 degrees fahrenheit (0 - 35 degrees C). Sunlight can quickly heat up the surface of the iPad due to its dark color and heat conducting aluminum back.
Aside from the three plaintiffs in the case, over 3.5 million iPad users have had no problems distinguishing between the iPad and a real book made from trees with printed ink. Unfortunately, a lawyer was standing by when the plaintiffs' iPads overheated as they were reading the latest Stephenie Meyer novel on iBooks.
Comments
Re: Books Have Better Heat Tolerance Than iPad
Submitted by Benjamin (not verified) on Sat, 08/14/2010 - 23:56I was thinking just the same thing when I saw this story. It's a computer, not an actual book, and they're suing apple because they can't distinguish an ebook reader from a dead tree?
These are probably the kind of people who read tacky glossy magazines like heat magazine ( c wat I did thar? ) if they're idiotic enough to think a computer could withstand intense heat. How could they see the screen anyway with all that glare?
Re: Books Have Better Heat Tolerance Than iPad
Submitted by Eunomiac (not verified) on Sun, 08/15/2010 - 14:15Uh, I would expect to be able to use my iPad outdoors in the summer, even under a hot sun. Hand-waving retorts of "but it's a computer" are meaningless, since pretty much everything has a computer in it nowadays and we expect our cars to start, our cellphones to run, and our Kindles to operate --- important language coming up --- "in normal environmental conditions."
Note the implied point that the advertised temperature range is misleading. No one's measuring their iPad's actual temperature with a thermometer; if anyone's even worrying about temperature ranges at all, they're looking at the weather report. So if it's 90 F outside, but the iPad is running at 110 F because someone decided to make it out of black metal, then I think these people have a case. Especially if, as I seem to recall, Apple's advertising campaign included depictions of people using iPads at beaches and in other sunny environs.
Notice I made no mention of that book analogy the author found so humorous. This is because it's obvious what they meant, and that the "it reads like a book" line comprises just a portion of the case they're bringing. Regardless, the author of this blog decided to reduce it to an absurdity for easy attack. I'm confident the legal team behind this is not under the false impression that they can write on their iPads with pens or use them under water.
Re: Books Have Better Heat Tolerance Than iPad
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 08/19/2010 - 10:33Can't go to the beach to read an iPad like you would a book....or do geeks even go to the beach.
Re: Books Have Better Heat Tolerance Than iPad
Submitted by Tallbearnc (not verified) on Sun, 08/22/2010 - 21:15ANY ele tronic device without some sort of cooling system can overheat in direct sunlight
Second, try to read ur iPad in DIRECT sunlight. You can't. The screen is not bright enough
I can see reading at the beach under an umbrella , under trees at a park, etc
... But if anyone expected to read in DIRECT sunlight, then they are just clueless. I suppose apple could have allowed the screen to go 3-5 times brighter, but kiss battery life goodbye
I have deliberately tried to overheat my iPad. I found one way.. Left it on.. Without screen lock for bout an hr in direct sun in 98f weather
Personally, I don't know anyone who wants to sit in near 100f weather, in direct sun and read.
Lastly, most people read un the shade! Why? Direct sun on white pages = major eye pain from light reflect tion.
So,Tbh, IMO, this lawsuit is a joke.
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