Japan's Sumo Association Buys 60 iPads To "Improve Communication"
by Joe White
August 24, 2010
I guess it makes sense, really. I mean, can you imagine a sumo wrestler punching out emails on an iPhone or Blackberry? They're too small - to paraphrase the famous movie line, "we're gonna need a bigger handheld". And, with a 9.7" HD screen (and a virtual keyboard that can occupy it), the iPad is clearly the sane sumo choice.
Indeed, as Fortune reports, Japan's Sumo Association has recently purchased sixty of Apple's touchscreen tablets in an attempt to "improve communication" within the traditional industry.
According to the article, stablemasters aren't computer fans, and sumo wrestlers genuinely do find texting on small mobile handhelds something of a wrestling match (it's not impossible to imagine the difficulties, I guess). So, with computers out the window, and iPhones down the drain, what you're left with is the Apple iPad - a device than can do anything for anyone, it seems.
Over in Japan, iPads retail for 48,800 yen ($570) and, as mentioned, the Association has bought sixty. Speaking with Reuters, Vice Chairman Hiroyoshi Murayama explained:
We will hand out the newest iPads to all the sumo stables to swiftly communicate what we need to.Well, there you go. I guess, on reflection, the critics might have had a point when they labelled the iPad: "just a big iPod touch." If bigger's better, then the iPad's an unbeatable beast - and with a sumo army to defend it, the device's reign over the consumer electronics industry can only grow.
