I want one now!

I see armies of doorbell activists using this as they represent candidates door-to-door, sending back real-time feedback to people running for office. This is way more portable than tablets that exist right now.

The iPad actually reminds me of those gadgets they used in old episodes of Star Trek. It's a Kindle killer because it offers way more functionality for the price.

I still dream of getting a Kindle and now there is iPad with the similar price? I think it will makes political news faster and more easily accessible. It will make significant difference especially during the election campaigns.

Volunteers could pull up info about their candidate or referendum right on the spot, be very interactive.

I like it especially for referendum movements. Very cool stuff. Volunteer could show videos, etc.

As a voter, I would probably not utilize it too much for political news. As a campaign volunteer, this is really nice. You can pull up actual information to show constituents instead of just pulling it off the top your head. It provides more credibility.

True...but it appears this version of the iPad lacks a few key tools;

*camera
*phone
* what about skype capability?

Version 2.0 might be the one to get, we shall see soon

Agreed. A camera/video is very important. On door-to-door, when IDing voters it would be great to take a picture of the person being surveyed. I am surprised they didn't include it in the first version, but I think they were trying to control costs on the first one. Steve Jobs made a big deal about the price point during his speech.

Steve vs Google!

http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/01/googles-dont-be-evil-mantra-is-bullshit-adobe-is-lazy-apples-steve-jobs

I hate to sound like an "old guy" but if a campaign worker showed up with one of this devices, my first instinct would be to shut the door because I don't want my thoughts, image etc to wind up on some social networking site.

Privacy is a HUGE concern for most Americans, having someone write down your political views is one thing but recording who you are and everything you say is another.

Ask yourself this question: Do you want to be recorded so someone can use it anytime, any place, for any purpose without your permission?

Privacy is definitely something to be concerned about with the use of these types of devices. Between gadgets like the iPhone and iPad and all of the online initiatives from Google that require more and more personal data - constant threats to our privacy is a big issue.

There is a chance that the iPad will ship with a camera. Even though it is not published in the original feature set, Wired magazine claims "A screen-grab from the official video of the event shows nothing but a small dot above the screen, opposite the home button. Taken alone, this isn’t much, but compare this with the picture of the iPad leaked just hours before the event (below). If you remember, these showed an iPad locked down in a security frame, and you could clearly see the camera in the bezel."

Another thing to consider with this device is the possibility of jailbreaking. I think the iPad provides more potential for jailbreaking and additional apps. Because of this, campaigns and political organizations can customize this device with almost no limits.

I do not want one and you can bet someone has already attempted to (if not succeeded) in jail-breaking it. I do not like the iAnything but this thing looks too bulky to start with. And you know as soon as its vulnerable to the hackers, the storms will start with those high up.

I just don't see how this is any more beneficial to politics than any other device. There are plenty of notebooks and laptops that would do the job far more proficiently than this will.

I think this is similar to the iPhone in how it will affect things like politics. Maybe not earth changing, but a helpful tool to do different things.