The grand announcement of the iPad by Apple’s Steve Jobs came with a flurry of media opportunities. Below are links to two features surrounding the hype leading up to and following Apple’s announcement and demonstration of the iPad. Both were written by enterprise reporter Peter St. Onge of the Charlotte Observer:

• Apple Tablet: A behavior changer?
  P. St.Onge (January 27, 2010 – before the announcement)
  Charlotte Observer, A1

… “People are going to seek out content through the path of least resistance,” said John McArthur, an assistant professor of communication at Queens University of Charlotte. McArthur, who specializes in the social impact of technology, still reads the printed newspaper, but he said he does most of his reading for news on the iPhone he purchased this summer. Such smart phones allow access to full Web sites, as well as documents and video, albeit on a 3.5-inch screen.

A tablet computer, he said, would need “the ability to offer that content on a large screen with ease” …(read more)

• Apple iPad: Experts weigh in
  P. St.Onge (January 27, 2010 – following the announcement)
  Charlotte Observer Online

In today’s Charlotte Observer, communication professor John McArthur saw new possibilities for old media with the launch of an Apple Tablet.

What does he think now that the iPad is officially almost here?

“I thought it was cool,” says McArthur, a Queens University of Charlotte professor who specializes in the social impact of technology.

McArthur especially liked the presentation of the New York Times on the iPad – which at first blush offered seemed to offer easy and authentic content navigation on the 9.7-inch screen. “It has the feel of a printed newspaper, and I like that,” he says. “I’m interested to see what that technology will do to the design of newspapers” … (read more)