Regardless of whether we see a gorgeous tablet from Apple on Wednesday, there is a clear trend toward using electronic devices to read what has traditionally been printed media. From an environmental point of view, that shift is a mixed bag, depending as much on user behavior as on technology. According to reports, Apple will show off a tablet PC that can be used with a docking station or an electronic reader. Displacing printing media with an electronic device like the Amazon Kindle can reduce the amount of energy associated with cutting down trees and making physical periodicals and books, according to some studies. But without electronics recycling, the environmental footprint is not good. After all, tossing an old newspaper into the recycling bin is a lot easier and common than recycling electronics, for which the US rate is estimated at about 10 percent.
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The eve of Apple’s expected tablet announcement, the top executive at a major book publisher has stolen a bit of Apple’s thunder. All of those are the kinds of details Steve Jobs typically leaves for himself to reveal. For those unfamiliar with the Apple way: The company has basically zero tolerance for talking about products before they’re ready. In other words, we can assume that McGraw isn’t getting a holiday card from Jobs this year. In an incident that’s become almost legendary in the Apple community, back in 2000, graphics chipmaker ATI, now owned by AMD, issued a press release that made reference to a Power Mac yet to be introduced by Apple. Jobs was said to be livid and omitted any mention of ATI from his keynote. Nevertheless, McGraw is the first named source offering actual confirmation of the operating system and specific content for the device, namely textbooks. From all the other unnamed sources talking to the press, we already have a good idea that there will be magazine, book, and newspaper content as well. It’s been a guessing game as to whether Apple would simply adapt iPhone OS for the tablet or go to a new operating system for the device. Now that we know it’s iPhone OS, that also pretty much guarantees that we’ll get a peek at the new operating system for the iPhone on Wednesday as well.
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For one, if the iPad employs encryption the same way the iPhone does, sensitive personal data, including phone numbers and e-mail addresses, could be retrieved and viewed, says Daniel Hoffman, chief technology officer at SMobile Systems, which sells mobile security software. “The problem with the iPhone security encryption is it is fundamentally worthless,” he said. “It can be easily bypassed.” Secondly, if iPad users get their apps from the Apps Store, they are at risk of getting the occasional bad apple, Hoffman said, noting that there have been malicious apps found in the store. In addition, the device is subject to man-in-the-middle attacks like any other device that uses unsecured Wi-Fi networks is, he said. SMobile is developing a tool to protect against such attacks, in which someone is able to intercept Internet traffic mobile devices send over Wi-Fi networks and inject new messages while masquerading as a legitimate party in the communication. The iPad also should have management capabilities, like the option of using a PIN or passcode, and remote lock or wipe in case of loss or theft, he said. The iPhone offers a service to help locate lost devices and provide remote wipe, but it’s pricey at about US$100 per year.
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