Horizons Online Edition

Issue date: 2/3/10 Section: Final Approach

As you probably already know, the Apple iPad was announced on the morning of Jan. 27.

I was sitting in class watching live blog updates from the computer giant's highly exclusive media event. I watched while, minute by minute, features and photos were posted online as Steve Jobs and others announced them live. At long last, the 20-year rumor known as the "iTablet," "Jesus Tablet," "iSlate," and countless other names was announced as... iPad. Please hold back your snickering at the irony of the name that Apple worked so hard to put on their new device. Apple's lawyers are currently planning for a possible court battle with Fujitsu, who, according to director of public relations Masahiro Yamane, still owns the name "iPad."

For many, this is reminiscent of the first days after the iPhone release when Apple was sued by Cisco, who still owned rights to the name at the time. Looking at Cisco's website, the Apple iPhone can operate with Cisco's Adaptive Security used for its WebEx meeting system, along with other Cisco apps. Looking at Linksys' website however, the search term iPhone reveals an extensive list of support pages for their own iPhone. When I clicked on the link to one of them, the word iPhone is written almost excessively large and has a massive registered trademark symbol right next to the name.

Apple has held patents for a tablet computer since the late 1980s. I was a little confused when the rumors starting getting more and more popular late last week. Suddenly, Apple's seemingly normal media conference turned into the most anticipated event of the century. It became clear to me that if Apple hadn't announced a tablet last week, Earth would have fallen out of orbit. The hype boosted Apple's stock enough for it to drop by over 10 percent since the day before the announcement.

Sadly, Apple signed another contract with AT&T but were able to get a lower rate for the iPad's 3G service. The iPad is unlocked, which means users can take their new technological marvel to any carrier's store, right? Wrong. Apple used a micro-SIM card for the 3G-enabled iPads. They have a WiFi-only version for less money-and as far as I can tell, AT&T is the only company supporting the micro-SIM card as of now. In a feature similar to iTunes' sharing of music between computers, licenses for apps bought on the iPhone can be used on the iPad and vice versa. Although it only makes sense for a person to share an app with themselves, Apple is notorious for making their customers pay.

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