Obama’s First Successful Act
For those of you who have been following the story, as Obama transitions into office, he’s been told time and again that day 1, he’d have to hand over his coveted device.
Barack Obama has already proven to the electorate that he is the most tech savvy president to date. His campaign used innovative new methods of communication to get out the vote, solicit donations, and keep his constituents apprised of his actions and thoughts.
Obama used MySpace, Facebook, and even Xbox live in-game ads to inspire voters to get out of their house November 4th. He announced Biden via text message. His online addresses have been viewed more than 5 million times. 103,512 people submitted 76,031 questions to his Open for “Questions” section of Changes.gov.
A poll on Wired.com (which granted, targets technophiles), indicated that 76% of readers thought that Obama should have the right to maintain his Blackberry, while only 11% thought it would compromise national security.
But the transition hasn’t been easy, and it was unclear he’d get his way. According to the Washington Post, Obama’s aides arrived at the White House to find themselves impeded by the federal bureaucracy of disconnected computers, non-working phones, and PCs still running Windows XP. Eugh. (Obama’s campaign used Macs).
“It is kind of like going from an Xbox to an Atari,” Obama spokesman Bill Burton told the Washington Post.
So when I woke up today, I did what I do most mornings: grab my iPhone and load up the most recent Associated Press feeds. Before my cup of coffee, my morning shower and even before I put on my glasses, I read through the news of the day. And the tops news today was “Spokesman says Obama is keeping his BlackBerry”.
After a drawn-out battle of wills, Obama has reached a compromise allowing him to use the device to stay in touch with his close senior staff and personal friends. Security will be amped up on the device to protect national security, and the e-mails will likely be subject to the Presidential Records act, meaning he’d better be careful which forwards he receives. But he’s staying keyed in.
P.S. he also closed Guantanamo. :)