iBan lifted in Israel, personal imports of iPads now permitted
That didn't take long. After complaints from would-be iPad users, and subsequent Wi-Fi testing, Israel's Ministry of Communications has now declared the iPad to be safe and sane for use there. Last week's ban, which resulted in some iPads cooling their oleophobic heels in customs storage, never made a lot of sense to begin with -- the iPad was already a well-behaved device under EU wireless rules, which are conformant with Israeli standards.
Ynet News reports that travelers may now bring one iPad per person into the country, and any confiscated devices will be returned to their owners. Official sales of the iPad in Israel have yet to be announced by iDigital, the country's only Apple distributor.
Thanks Jehuda!
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That didn't take long. After complaints from would-be iPad users, and subsequent Wi-Fi testing, Israel's Ministry of Communications has...
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Maybe some high-up government official were upset that other people in his country were using iPads before him, and maybe now that he got one, the ban is lifted.
April 26 2010 at 12:15 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyJust to clarify when you say "conformant with Israeli standards" it's really the other way around... Israel accepts European certification for use in their market.
Obviously Israel is not a member of the EU since it's a Middle Eastern country, but they do have trade agreements.
To simplify the distribution of products European countries have agreed to mutually accept each others testing and certification (CE).
Common sense would tell you that there is no problem. No other nations have issues and other devices never caused any problems.
April 25 2010 at 6:50 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI am sooo glad that I live in the United States!
April 25 2010 at 11:14 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyYou realize that this happens in the US as well?
If you buy products in China [that aren't certified for use in the US] they can take them away from you at the airport... it's illegal to use them in the US.
Then again if you're American you're not likely to travel abroad as much [on average] :)
I had a similar experience with a decent Sony Hi-Fi going in to Israel. They are a bunch of Communists who never want anybody to enjoy the good things in life!
April 25 2010 at 10:14 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Replyread this on another site (tech.fortune.cnn.com/) :
Shimon Peres - Israeli President
Chemi Peres - son of Israeli President who happens to run iDigital
iDigital - Apple's Israeli distributor
This was obviously about money.
If it was such a big problem to warrant a ban they would actually check people or at least put up a sign at the airport.
The only ones they "caught" were those people who were stupid enough to declare them at customs. I bet hundreds or even thousands were smuggled in without any problems.
I definitely know about at least one... :)
expect Mossad to arrive in tennis outfits any minute
April 25 2010 at 12:19 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Replyoleophobic isn't in any published in print dictionary
April 25 2010 at 9:50 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Replyhttp://www.apple.com/iphone/specs.html
April 25 2010 at 9:54 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Replyhttp://dictionary.reference.com/browse/oleophobic
BTW, you STILL use a print dictionary in this day and age? O_O
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