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iPad reading not ‘just like reading a book’—iPad users file lawsuit
July 27, 2010 | 4:41 pm
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By Chris Meadows
Okay, this is just stupid.
Three iPad users have filed a lawsuit against Apple (PDF), seeking class-action status, because reading on the iPad isn’t “just like reading a book” after all—books don’t shut down from overheating if left in the direct sunlight too long.
As I learned the other day when I came back out to my hot car, the iPad has a built-in heat sensor which shuts off the device when it reaches 95 degrees Fahrenheit, safeguarding the electronics from heat damage. Therefore, Apple’s advertising that “Reading on iPad is just like reading a book” represents fraud, negligent misrepresentation, deceptive advertising, and a litany of other malfeasance.
Is it just me, or does this totally fail the “reasonable person” test? No electronic device is going to be “just like reading a book”, because electronic devices simply aren’t books. Even the Kindle isn’t just like reading a book.
Cases like this waste the judiciary’s money and time (not to mention Apple’s). These plaintiffs are poster children for tort reform if I’ve ever seen any. Hopefully it gets thrown out as soon as possible.
(Found via Ars Technica.)
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Comments:
yeah, totally ridiculous. i hope the judge laughs them out of the room.
Obviously fighting for truth in advertising is a waste of time. We need tort reform to make sure that corporate rights _always_ takes precedence to the rights of the individual.
If No electronic device is going to be “just like reading a book”, then why would _any_ device manufacturer make this claim? When were corporations given license to be liars?
http://www.apple.com/batteries/ipad.html
iPad Temperate Zone. Your iPad is designed to work in conditions ranging from 32° to 95° F. That’s 0° to 35° C for the metrically inclined. But keeping your iPad as near room temperature as possible (72° F or 22° C) is ideal.
This is because the majority of Apple customers, though definitely NOT the powerusers, are idiots who don’t know how computers work and don’t care to learn.
And using the same sloppy methodology as gnimsh, 25% of the readers of this site are mouth-breathing morons.
I think this makes it pretty clear: iPad Temperate Zone. Your iPad is designed to work in conditions ranging from 32° to 95° F. That’s 0° to 35° C for the metrically inclined. But keeping your iPad as near room temperature as possible (72° F or 22° C) is ideal.
The people complaining about these products malfunctioning in heat don’t know that computers can overheat and don’t care enough to read the instructions on how to use it safely.
now…this is my kind of lawsuit, i love it…i hope it makes front page of new york times…..frankenbooks are not real books, true. they want to be real books, but they are not. but ebooks do have a heart of gold, like Frankenstein did, that is true too.
smile
And will the suit take into account all the reasons why reading on an iPad is *better* than reading a book? Portability of entire libraries, ease of text-searching, immediate availability of new books wherever you are, adjustable font size, multimedia options?
There’s a give and take here in the advantages and disadvantages, and I see no reason why typical advertising hyperbole deserves a lawsuit.
It deserves a lawsuit because this country has more lawyers than engineers and lawyers need to eat. And because truth in advertising is still the law of the land.
One man’s hyperbole is the next lawyer’s billable hours.
I don’t know the particulars of the “reasonable person” test, but I think there should be “reasonable truth” in advertising. If the line was “Reading on the on the iPad is like reading a book” that would be a very different thing from “Reading on the on the iPad is JUST like reading a book”. It’s obviously untrue, and I don’t care if only a moron wouldn’t realise it.
This is the worst case of false advertising I’ve seen since the movie “Neverending Story”.
And a bad case of false advertising for exactly the opposite reason for the sequels.
I REALLY wanted to get an iPad, until I read the finer print and found out that it would not work outdoors, let alone in the sun. I spend time in Kentucky and Arizona. The iPad would shut down from the air conditioned car to the air conditioned building. My Kindle is an electronic device as well and I can read it in full sunlight in 99 degree ambient temperature. Apple truly needs to modify their device to operate in higher temperatures. It should work in environments that are acceptable to humans.