Israel Blesses iPad Saying, "Let The Tablets Go!"
Israel's communications ministers have cleared Apple's iPad for import after previously banning travelers or distributors from bringing the tablet into the country.
CNET quotes Yechiel Shabi, a spokesperson for the Communications Ministry, saying the device passed "technical scrutiny," and that travelers will now be allowed to enter the country with their devices beginning Sunday, albeit with a limit of one iPad per person.
The one iPad per person limit will interfere with retail distribution of the WiFi-only iPads that are currently for sale in the United States. Several resellers in Israel who had ordered the WiFi version of the popular Apple tablet were irate at their government's ban on imports. Fortune and Time seem to support TG Daily's possible explanation for the continued limitation on quantity imports, pointing to Apple's Israeli distributor, iDigital, which has ties to venture capitalist Chemi Peres, the son of Israeli President Shimon Peres.
Haaretz, Israel's daily newspaper, reported when the ban was first announced Communications Ministry Director General Eden Bar Tal and his staff had been unable to obtain technical information about the device from iDigital.
Israel may be caught between a rock and a hard place when it comes to technology innovation. Some security experts applaud Israel's cautionary approach to the impact of this new class of device on the country's broadband network and secure communications. Time reports, "There was a similar problem when Bluetooth first came to Israel, forcing the military to release those frequencies for civilian use."
Meanwhile, Israel has been cultivating and growing venture capital support for its home grown technology entrepreneurs. However, the first quarter of 2010 saw the lowest amount raised in the last five years, leading many to fear that the appetite for new technology is somehow decreasing.
Follow Technorati