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Polish MP Returns iPad Citing Lack of Control

Posted by Unknown on from the cloud-is-watching-you dept.

rysiek writes "Polish MP and spokesperson for one of Polish political parties Dariusz Joski returned his state-issued iPad, citing lack of control (Google-translated). Polish Free and Open Source Software Foundation (of Anti-ACTA fame) offered (free of charge, of course) to help him choose, install and configure Linux on his laptop, including setting-up disk encryption. We are still waiting for an answer from the MP." Another concern of his appears to have been a lack of security regarding communications with other government officials.

8 of 148 comments (clear)

  1. I like Apple bashing as much as the next man... by FalconZero · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...but this story to me reads as a "Man does not like thing." fluff piece.

    Can anyone enlighten me?

    --
    Windows in 6 Bytes (IA-32) : 90 90 90 90 CD 19
    1. Re:I like Apple bashing as much as the next man... by PCK · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Well as a politician I'm pretty sure he had one eye on the free publicity for him this would cause, seems to have worked I'd say.

    2. Re:I like Apple bashing as much as the next man... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I think the big story is that there still exist people who don't know about the lack of control. On Slashdot we all know; in the mainstream most people don't.

      Obviously the guy cares about being The master of his computer, knowing who has access to his imap password, etc. Had he known how bad this particular personal computer would be about such things, he would have avoided it from the beginning. But he didn't.

      This suggests to me that more educating of the public, could help everyone a lot. People ought to know about iOS' problems before, not after. Finding out after is why Apple is doing so well (as Microsoft before them), and at the public's expense since control issues are zero-sum games.

      This guy should never have been put into this situation where he has to get rid of the already-paid-for junk. But unlike many problems, we actually have the power to prevent this one, simply by spreading the word.

      Apple-bashing isn't sufficient; you have to say why you're Apple-bashing. Explain the problem enough, and eventually people won't need things bashed anymore, because the products' defects will scream at the prospective customers for themselves. They'll see that some products aren't advertised as serving their users or as being secure, and realize "oh right, that stuff matters, and it's suspicious when the manufacturer weasels about it."

      There's no reason we can't get the state of the art in security (who has access to your email?) at least back to as well as it was 20 years ago (which was pretty bad, but I'm only comparing it to 2012 so the bar is absurdly low). All it takes it getting the public to think that way.

    3. Re:I like Apple bashing as much as the next man... by bhagwad · · Score: 4, Insightful

      A hammer is a clearly specialized instrument. A computer is not. Moroever, there's nothing stopping you from using a hammer for anything you care to find a use for. With computing devices these days, customers are ARTIFICIALLY restricted from doing stuff. And that is what I find offensive because the open culture of general purpose computing is one of the greatest achievements of mankind.

  2. not the first story by slashmydots · · Score: 2, Insightful

    This is not by any means they first story I've read about people getting an ipad for work and then finding it they can't make it do everything they want because Apple controls everything. It's not even mods or SD cards or custom software, it's that there's no mouse and keyboard or printing support (as far as I know) or apps to do things you need in the one and only app store. I've had several customers tell me that as they're buying a laptop from me. I've had vendors use an ipad to send me a PDF form to fill out and it's all screwed up with finger-checkmarks in the wrong place, wrong dates because the font was too small to read in that section, etc.
    If you want to do real work, get a real computer. It's kinda sad that Apple hates on Linux then actually released a product that's less functional, less flexible, and less compatible with other software than Linux. Hey, whatever helps lol.

    1. Re:not the first story by jedrek · · Score: 5, Insightful

      it's that there's no mouse and keyboard or printing support (as far as I know)

      You... don't know. Here's a list of a couple hundred printers that work with the iPad, here is a roundup of keyboard/case solutions for the iPad from The Verge. I'm not going to search for mouse setups for a multi-touch device for various reasons.

      You know what really bugs me about your post? Since the first time I logged into slashdot, I've been reading about cases of FUD working against Linux and Open Source Software. Now I'm seeing Linux and Android fanboys with their heads up their asses, spreading the same kind of FUD. "Oh, as far as I know, it doesn't work with external keyboards." sure brings me back to the times of, "It seems to me that if it was good, they'd charge money for it."

      It's kinda sad that Apple hates on Linux then actually released a product that's less functional, less flexible, and less compatible with other software than Linux.

      Apple hates on Linux? Linux isn't even on Apple's radar. What they've made is a product that's more functional and flexible than a phone, while being considerably more portable than a laptop. They weren't trying to create a new laptop, they were aiming for a product between laptops and phones. Most people have extremely low demands of their computers. Email, Skype, a browser and a photo editing application. Hell, my girlfriend is technical enough to fix her own router, but I haven't seen her do anything on her laptop that she couldn't do on a tablet in the four months we've been living together.

  3. Re:Lack of control? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    On the contrary. He seems to have realized exactly that - and so he returned the thing. Ipads are fine for surfing and "family use", but I wouldn't trust one to keep state secrets. For that, you use a machine where you can inspect all the software - and you preferably have some trusted experts to set it up. The man is just being sensible.

  4. Re:Lack of control? by LordLimecat · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It does not look from that article that it has been "ruled uncrackable", except by NeoWin. They seem to assume that because AES is "uncrackable", and because Apple claims that they do not store the key, their implementation must therefore be uncrackable / without flaws.

    Anyone who has watched security for any length of time knows that "hypothetically uncrackable" is a lot different than "practically secure". Maybe they leak key details; maybe they dont properly santize RAM before the iPad powers down (and therefore it may be susceptable to a cold boot attack).

    Until some respected crypto expert looks at the thing, any declarations about security on the IOS are worthless marketing tools.