Dangers of Using an iPad

Not everything is perfect and believe it or not, your shiny new iPad can do you some harm — more that is than getting you hooked on FaceBook and Twitter, or turning you into a FarmVille addict. There have been many instances of people being injured thanks to their iPads and fatalities, although not common, have also occurred.

The Serious Dangers

Believe it or not, there have been some deaths associated with Apple devices, but the main issues have been associated with iPhones. The issues lies within the charger, which was not a legitimate Apple product in all cases. The iPhones users were legitimate, but the users, perhaps seeking a cheaper alternative, ended up with a poorly made charger. One particular woman had such a charger on at the time she used the phone to make a call, sending a current through the phone and into her head, killing her almost instantly. You’re dealing with a lot of power, and when the charger is not properly made, that power is not cut off when it needs to be and often not directed to where it needs to go; not only is this dangerous for your phone, but there have also been more than one occasion of death and serious injury.

A similar issue has led to iPads starting fires in homes and offices, fires that have, in some cases, been fatal. As with the case mentioned above, this all boils down to cheaply made chargers, most of which are bought from suspect dealers, auction sites and other non-certified places. In some cases these copies can even make their way to legitimate dealers, although you will not find them in the Apple stores, as they have a direct trace on all of the products made and sold by themselves.

Luckily, these dangers are easy to avoid, just make sure you buy a legitimate charger. The same applies to other peripherals, and to the iPad itself, as many injures and fires have also been recorded through “fake” devices. More often than not, they simply won’t work or will stop working very quickly, but considering what the worst cause scenario can bring, is it really worth the risk? There are those who intentionally seek such items, but if you have just spent hundreds on a new device, why try and save a few dollars on the charger when it could damage that very device? There are, however, those who unwittingly buy counterfeit devices, and although these are more common in Asian and African countries, they are still prevalent in Australia and New Zealand, especially with some local buyers bulk purchasing from Chinese suppliers.

The Hilarious Dangers

One of the most common injuries that results from using an iPad, and more commonly an iPhone, is something we shall refer to as the Tablet Punch. This results when the user is lying on his or her back, with the tablet or smartphone held above their face. With their attention on updating their FaceBook account or stalking their ex on Instagram, it’s easy to lose focus and grip, and although the result is not very pretty, it is hilarious. This happens more with a smartphone than a tablet because people tend to hold the former with one hand, the same hand they use to work the touchscreen on the device. That creates a very loose grip and because it’s right over their face, it does some damage when it falls. iPhones are one of the heaviest smartphones, so it can do some damage, but it is not unheard of when using an iPad, and when that falls on your face it can feel like a punch from Mike Tyson.

Another very dangerous and very amusing occurrence that is far more common than it should be, is when people use their devices when out and about. This has led to people walking into water fountains, into busy traffic and even down stairs, completely oblivious they were about to do any of those things until they were actually doing them. Luckily for us, many of these have been filmed by passersby, with many others caught on CCTV, so at least their stupidity was not in vain and the rest of us had something interesting to watch on our break.

Typically again, this is more common with phones than tablets, but with the advent of super-fast widely available services like 4G, it seems there are just as many people on their tablets checking their status updates and browsing the web, as there are people texting.

Genuine iPads are perfectly safe, and when they are not, it’s usually the fault of the user, and not the device. So, providing that you don’t do anything stupid (at least make sure there are no cameras about if you do) then you should be okay. It should also be considered that the same thing applies for all tablets and smartphones, not just the Apple iPads and iPhones, but the popularity of Apple, which leads to it being replicated a lot, and the sturdiness of it, which creates a lot of issues when dropped from point-blank range, make it somewhat exceptional.