After two technologically pregnant months, Steve Jobs has finally birthed the iPad into the world. Or rather, the United States, that is. Apple sold 500,000 iPad infants in its first week of sales alone, with the demand not appearing to subside in the least.

Apparently Jobs did not properly anticipate just how popular the youngest Apple progeny would be and consequently announced yesterday that the release of the iPad outside of the United States would be pushed back a month.

While the original release date for the iPad in countries such as England and Canada was scheduled for the end of April, Jobs stated Wednesday morning that ‘although we have delivered more than 500,000 iPads during its first week, demand is far higher than we predicted and will likely continue to exceed our supply over the next several weeks as more people see and touch an iPad.’

Although some overseas newspapers have written unfriendly responses to Jobs’ declaration, Americans who are set on acquiring an iPad are praising this obvious show of nepotism.

‘I’m glad he decided to finish taking care of America’s needs first,’ said Katie Simon, a sophomore information management and technology major. ‘It’s an American company and a lot of people have been looking forward to getting an iPad.’

While Europe and the rest of the world wait a little longer for the iPad to arrive in their hometowns, Americans are getting a move on modifications. The iPad was jailbroken on its first day in the hands of consumers. For the non-tech savvy, jailbroken has nothing to do with jail or destruction. Actually, it’s quite the opposite. It has to do with liberty.

The software preinstalled on Apple products, although fluid and expertly made, is tied to certain constraints. A handful of Apple product users opt to undermine the preinstalled system and install third-party software instead. This practice allows them to enjoy a level of technological freedom and flexibility unique to Apple products that have been ‘unlocked.’ 
Only when the original software is bypassed, users may opt to employ the black market version of the App Store. This viral venue offers an array of non-Apple approved apps. Jobs would be ashamed of those opting to use this.

Consider an unlocked iPad as a typical toy store and the user as an attention-challenged 5-year-old. The distracted child arrives, uses a cart to find the items he or she wants, chooses from a limited selection that was pre-approved by the company, then waits patiently in line to check out using a standard process. As you can imagine, this 5-year-old would not be very happy. 

Now let’s consider the toy store in the light of a jailbroken iPad. Hyper 5-year-olds can ride a tricycle down the aisles, find any toy he or she can imagine, tailor each item to his or her own liking, and bypass the standard checkout process. Not to mention they can use really nifty designs to decorate the toy store (iPad display and widgets) in any way they want. 
Despite the allure of unlocking an iPad to enjoy these freedoms, the unchanged product is still a pretty awesome toy store.

Overall, the little Apple tot is an impressive piece of technology. However sleek and nifty it may look on the Apple Web site, or how quick its apps may appear to run on the commercials, its nothing like using the iPad in real life. Because users will have to wait for the next set of buns in the oven to bake in order to take one home, visiting the local Apple store or babysitting a friend’s iPad may be the only quick-fix solutions.

While the next batch of iPads will be available in the near future thanks to Jobs’ alliance to the United States, potential buyers should keep in mind that currently the only available model is limited to Wi-Fi connection and is not 3G capable. It’s estimated that the 3G model will be on the market at the end of the month with a 250 MB data transfer plan running about $15, and an unlimited data transfer plan costing about $30.

Unless you try your luck with the real black market (which probably isn’t recommended), then it’s the waiting game all over again. Welcome to technological purgatory.

Jessica Smith is a sophomore information management and technologies and television radio and film major, and her columns appear every Thursday. You can try reaching her at jlsmit22@syr.edu, but she’ll probably be too busy waiting outside the Apple store to notice.

Published on April 14, 2010 at 12:00 pm