So as the iPad becomes The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread, I find myself wondering, sincerely, about how bulletproof its security is -- because *boy* has it painted a gigantic target on itself. It's the hot new thing, that *everyone* is piling into. It's a very nicely unified platform: the upside of Apple's little walled garden is that an iPad is an iPad is an iPad -- the devices are very consistent compared to grungy desktop computers. Heck, the really cool ones even have always-on connectivity thanks to that 3G capability. If I was a hacker looking to create trouble today, I'd be the first person in line at the Apple store, disassembling the heck out of the thing and looking for ways in.
It'll be interesting to see what happens. It's possible that Apple really does have its security act together well enough that nobody manages to perpetrate a truly bad hack. But all it would take is one hole in the wrong place, and this has all the makings of the fastest-moving computer plague since the Morris Worm.
(Yes, yes -- there's a measure of sour grapes here. I have little desire to give Apple more money right now, and I am twiddling my thumbs waiting for an Android-based competitor worth my half-grand. But still, Apple is more and more looking like the old Microsoft, and that has implications...)
