Russia Reclassifies iPad To Bypass 5% Import Tax, Some Other Tablets Still Penalized

You guys apparently have not seen some of the aircraft flight apps, have you.

iPad with said apps offers better navigation quality then most of the small aircraft, and even a few older big ones, in existence.

It's not a GPS-enabled navigation device any more, just a mere Computer

It's not a GPS-enabled navigation device any more, just a mere Computer

The problem is that it's all of the above and more. It's a more powerful PC with a better display than a couple IBM PCs and a PowerMac that I've owned, a more accurate GPS with better maps than my old handheld GPS, a better camera than my first digital camera, a voice recorder, a guitar tuner, a calendar PDA, an ebook reader, a portable music player, a handheld gaming device, a remote desktop thin-client, a vibration measuring device, a digital clock, ... etc.

If some government levied a tax on each of the above product categories, they could probably tax an iPad or iPhone at an amount well above what the thing costs.

The only thing the FAA has approved the ipad for is charts and flight manuals...

Nobody ever said anything about FAA-approval.

This whole tax is probably a promotion tax for the Russian GLONASS, their answer to GPS. There are products out there which use both - like the iPhone 4S. Anyways, putting it on devices which are primarily for other use might convince Russia to excemt them from this tax - especially when every member of their parliament wants an iPad 3 (or 2S or HD or what ever will be called). Now, if Apple pays for using GLONASS anyways (because technically they do) (http://goinggps.com/iphone-4s-now-supports-russian-version-of-gps/), this tax might be seen as obsolete since they now pay fees for that.

I imagine that other manufacturers are going to demand a reclassification of their cellular tablets as well. The idea that a tablet would be considered a "navigation device" in the first place is a bit ridiculous, even if it does include rudimentary GPS.