Our discovery of the “news-creation” app Storify also showed us some of the great possibilities for utilizing different media to share stories, and the iPad is a great platform to access the social media, videos, and text sources that can combine to make a unique and powerful presentation. Flipboard allowed me to access a wide range of news stories from a variety of topics and sources, and fit perfectly with the touch screen page-turning presentation that the iPad allows. The iPad introduced me to many useful apps that expanded my ability and options for news consumption, with Flipboard probably being one of the most useful in its function as a news conglomeration program. With the continuing expansion of technology, news can be delivered and consumed on a huge variety of platforms, and the iPad gives users a mobile, user-friendly device with access to countless media and applications. Our class’s work on the iPad this semester has been both enjoyable and beneficial to our examination of journalism and democracy in America. This extends beyond the classroom and beyond class content, and that, my technologically equipped friends, is something very exciting indeed. In the end, receiving iPads in this class offers a unique experience for us students: we can get a real feel for all that iPads have to offer. There are some limitations to this amazing little machine, and I don’t want to get too carried away here. Nor does it mean that I will reach for my iPad when I need to write a 5 page paper. That is not to say that I’m going to start purging my shelves of physical books, only to amass a gigantic library of e-books on the iPad. They unfold into huge spreads, they are not really visually appealing, and I find myself zoning out while skimming over headlines of news I don’t really want to read, now that I know what personalized news is like. Why? Because all the sudden newspapers are a hassle. I’ve found that after discovering and personalizing Flipboard, I get annoyed with your plain ol’ newspaper over breakfast. I sound like an old grouchy man, but it’s true – these are my feelings.Īfter messing around with all of the cool apps that the iPad has to offer, I consider myself mistaken – they’re awesome. It seems like a lighter computer with a more annoying keyboard. Admittedly, I was not the first person to jump on the iPad bandwagon. Alright, alright…I guess I’ll take the free iPad you’re throwing at me.

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