In an address to the Hampton University graduates, President Obama bemoans the iPod as a distraction, and that information has become a distraction posing problems for the democracy.
He stated, “You’re coming of age in a 24/7 media environment that bombards us with all kinds of content and exposes us to all kinds of arguments, some of which don’t always rank that high on the truth meter,” he told the students. “And with iPods and iPads, and Xboxes and PlayStations — none of which I know how to work — information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment, rather than a tool of empowerment, rather than the means of emancipation. So all of this is not only putting pressure on you; it’s putting new pressure on our country and on our democracy.”
What the president wants to convey is that these are toys as compared to the laptops. Let me tell you, the iPad has various educational applications , which educate the users, if not distract them. And there is only one benefit by using these gadgets. The ipad can revolutionize the education system. Imagine, in a class where you don’t have to write in the text books, and use the iPad instead. The information could me immediately updated.
The White House has already rolled out an app for iPhone, called The White House App, so that people can directly watch the stream of the live President’s public events at the White House. Firstly, they roll out the application , then they say they are distraction.
Simply put , iPads are next generation notebooks, and calling them distraction, isn’t limiting their use. Time will tell if the iPad becomes just another distraction or, rather, more of a reading platform and educational tool.
