To say that the iPad has significantly altered the way in which I interact with the news or any other institution would be making a gross overstatement. Sure, having an iPad increases my ability to access news (political or otherwise) and personalizes my relationship with it, but the impact appears to be minimal. It is very convenient to have a news source with up-to-the-minute news available at all times of the day and (quite literally) at my fingertips. It is also extraordinarily useful to receive fully personalized news that is catered directly to my interests. Beyond these changes however, my political interactions and the way I relate to different publics remain pretty much the same.

I view the iPad (and other mobile devices) as a small step forward in communications technology, rather than a significant leap forward. They provide little beyond the capability of a computer beyond their portability. The technologies themselves don’t necessarily change the way I interact, instead the applications developed for them do. Twitter, for example, makes the news more interactive but the iPad itself does not make Twitter any better. The use of Twitter on either the iPad or a computer allows news followers to comment on stories and even discuss issues with the creators of news in real time. Through Twitter and other means of discussions, individuals can break the barrier between the “news making elite” and become a part of an entirely new public.

The one application that is not available outside of the iPad is Flipboard. This plays in to the personalization of news that is experienced with mobile technology. No longer do I pick up a paper and browse for stories that interest me nor do I have to scour news websites to find interesting stories. Flipboard presents news according to my interests and is easily customizable. Although this is not a drastic shift in the way that I interact with the news, it does allow for increased convenience. Thus, the iPad is merely a small step of change in my connection with politics, publics and the news. While it does make the news more accessible, convenient, and customized, the iPad does not change the way in which I use, interpret, nor understand the news.