iPad Banned In Israel, Bad News For Jews, Geeky Travelers

By Lindsay CutlerApril 16th, 2010, 3:20 pmComments (8)

alg_ipad
Remember your first pair of walkie-talkies? Remember how weird it was when you heard voices on the other end that were not your friends? Granted, it was only AM radio, or at its coolest, some fuzzy transmission from your local police station. But still, it was like secretly tapping into another world; you could hear them but they couldn’t hear you.

Apparently, the nation of Israel is having some very Fisher Price-style tech problems, because the iPad, the iPad, is causing a county-wide ruckus. Nati Shubert, some guy, explains why:

“'If you operate equipment in a frequency band which is different from the others that operate on that frequency band, then there will be interference,'' Nati Schubert said. ''We don't care where people buy their equipment … but without regulation, you would have chaos.''

Listen to Israel, listen to the Communications Ministry, listen to the man of no identifiable title: the iPad = Chaos. Apparently airport security guards have already confiscated ten. Apparently, the newest member of the iFamily has the capability not just to act as a digital-reader-meets- mini-computer, it can also destabilize Middle-Eastern countries.

Commentarium (8 Comments)

Apr 16 10 - 5:08pm

Dan

They have different wifi frequencies than we do. Imagine if it were the other way around and someone came here and therefore your wifi stopped working. I don't know if it's that extreme, but they have a right to designate what frequencies devices can operate on, can't they?

Apr 16 10 - 5:41pm

meh

With going all Gizmodo here, I am calling Bullshit on the Israeli FCC. WiFi (also known as IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n) is an international standard and ALL WiFi devices operate on the same frequencies regardless of where they happen to be. The problem has to be in some other aspect of the IPOD, for example the signal strength.

Apr 16 10 - 5:42pm

meh

^ Without going ...^

Apr 16 10 - 8:35pm

rwessel

meh – WiFi actually has many frequencies/channels, especially once you start looking at all the different versions. For example 802.11b/g/n has 14 defined channels, not all of which are permitted for use in all countries. For example, you can only use 1-11 in the US, while 1-13 are allowed in Europe, 14 is allowed only in Japan.

Anyway, the point is that in most jurisdictions, a RF device has to be built in such a way that it cannot use a disallowed frequency/band/channel/whatever. Demonstrating that you meet that requirement is typically part of the licensing process.

Presumable the issue is the 802.11b/g (5GHz band) support, where Israel definitely has a different list of allowed channels than the US does. Now this might just be a licensing issue (as in Apple just needs to get the product past Israel’s version of the FCC), or they might not actually have the disallowed bands locked out correctly (which is probably just a software fix, and *then* they can get a license).

Anyway: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_WLAN_channels

Apr 17 10 - 7:53am

Anti-Zionist

Perhaps the Isreali authorities are afraid of the interception of information about the IDF, further exposing their war crimes and murderous agenda.

**FREE PALESTINE**

Apr 17 10 - 9:30am

Lord Zodd

There's an easy fix for this. Three days after you get your iPad, pull out the wifi antenna and have a rabbi cut off the tip.

Apr 17 10 - 12:43pm

Craigs

Thanks, Lord Zodd.

Jan 19 11 - 12:00am