iPad User Screams at Steve Jobs, Says ‘Read This!’

An upset Apple Discussions forum user opened a topic yesterday entitled “STEVE JOBS READ THIS !!!!!” His complaint is related to one of the iPad’s built-in safety measures – an overheating warning message that, according to the customer, pops on the screen even in cool situations.

The seemingly temperamental poster addresses the Apple CEO in a very polite way, but does suggest that he’ll go back to Kindle, should the company fail to address this annoying aspect about the iPad.

“Well went outside today since it was nice here in Rhode Island. (about 83 degrees Sunny),” the iPad owner who is identified on Apple’s Discussions forum as ‘Iphone Junky’ writes. “After reading on my IPAD about 20 min I get warning stating Shut Down because of the Heat. You gotta be kidding me!!!! It's only 83 degree's out,” his post goes. “We can not take our IPAD outside??? Apple you need to FIX this. My Kindle never shut down.”

Fellow Discussions posters have replied, although almost none seem to agree with Iphone Junky’s tone, the fact that he addressed the Apple CEO directly using the forum, or that his iPad had acted up, given the circumstances – taking it outside, possibly exposing it to direct sunlight.

The fact of the matter is that Apple specifically states on the Support area of its website that iPads mustn’t be exposed to direct sunlight for “extended amounts of time.” And while 20 minutes certainly can’t be considered an extended amount of time to give the iPad a sun bath, the safety measure can prove helpful if, say, the user forgets the device on the back seat of their car, in a parking lot. These are the kinds of incidents that Apple hopes to prevent with these built-in safety measures.

“If the interior temperature of the device exceeds normal operating temperatures, you may experience the following as it attempts to regulate its temperature,” Apple explains in a knowledge base article. “The device stops charging; Display dims; Weak cellular signal; Temperature warning screen appears with the message ‘iPad needs to cool down before you can use it,’” the company states.

“This message appears when the operating temperature has become too hot,” the Mac maker outlines. “This is a safety mechanism that protects the components of your device. If this message appears, you should turn the device off, move it to a cooler environment, and allow it to cool before resuming use,” Apple’s advice goes. It then adds that, “Some conditions and activities that may activate the temperature warning message,” those being: leaving the device in a car on a hot day; leaving it in direct sunlight for extended amounts of time; using certain applications in hot conditions or direct sunlight for long periods of time, such as GPS tracking in a car on a sunny day or listening to music while in direct sunlight.