iPad petition hits 10,000 signatures, "Apple-as-1984" meme spreading

Last week we topped 10,000 signatures on Defective by Design's iPad petition, and mailed the second batch of 5,000 signatures to Steve Jobs on our own giant tablet.

The best part is, our "Apple makes totalitarian computers" meme is spreading. This weekend, NPR's "All Things Considered" ran a piece entitled "Is Apple Entering an Age of Empire?" that takes as its premise the idea that Apple is building the dystopic computing future featured in its famous "1984" Superbowl advertisement.

Slate Magazine's Farhad Manjoo (the commentator interviewed for the piece) goes far too easy on Apple, and focuses only on the danger to "the industry"-- not to society itself. But the fact that major news outlets are asking these kinds of questions is a huge victory for our campaign. You should be proud.

We're still sending a new tablet for every 5,000 signatures we receive. And we'll be mobilizing petition signers for anti-iPad actions on April 3rd when the iPad launches. So keep sharing the petition with your network!