Obama drops his Blackberry at Reagan Intl Airport. 1/16/09. Credit: UPI/Newscom
There’s been a lot of speculation that President Elect Barack Obama will have to give up his Blackberry once he takes residence in the Oval Office. The NY Times did a whole piece wondering how Obama will cope without the addictive little device, which he’s so dependent on that he has two. It was thought that once Obama became President he would have to give up the constant connectivity due to concerns for the privacy and security of his data.
Obama spoke to CNN’s John King and let him know that he won’t have to give up the Blackberry. He hopes it will help him keep in touch with people who want to give him feedback on his performance as President:
KING: I’ll ask you one last question. And it’s, in part, silly. But it’s not always silly. You like these [King holds up a Blackberry]. I was just with you before this, and you have a couple of them. And there are a lot of people who say, because this will end up in the presidential library, because you don’t have privacy any more. Your life’s about to change Tuesday noon, you have to give this up.
OBAMA: Yes.
KING: You going to do it?
OBAMA: I think we’re going to be able to beat this back.
KING: Beat this back?
OBAMA: I think we’re going to be able to hang onto one of these. Now, my working assumption, and this is not new, is that everything I write on e-mail could end up being on CNN. So I make sure to — to think before I press “send.”
But what this has been — what this does is — and it’s just one tool among a number of tools that I’m trying to use, to break out of the bubble. To make sure that people can still reach me. But if I’m doing something stupid, somebody in Chicago can send me an e-mail and say, “What are you doing?” You know? Or “you seem detached” or “you’re not listening to what is going on here in the neighborhood.”
I want to be able to have voices, other than the people who are immediately working for me, be able to reach out and — and send me a message about what’s happening in America.
[Transcript from Obama’s interview with John King, aired on CNN January 17, 2009, via Welt.de]
Yeah, Obama, you need that Blackberry for the good of the nation. As a fellow technology addict I have to say that I see the signs in the President. I reason that it’s much better to bring my iPod to bed to check e-mail than to keep the laptop in bed with me and end up missing out on hours of sleep. Obama has much more noble reasons to hold on to his Blackberry, though. It’s nice to hear about a President who uses technology to keep in touch and ensure that he’s receiving feedback and up to the minute information from around the world. I wonder if he uses abbreviations when he sends e-mail from his Blackberry or if he takes his time and spells things out. We’ll probably find out soon enough given his promises of transparency in government. TTYL Obama!
Header is of Obama at Reagan International Airport in Washington, DC on 1/16/09. He dropped his Blackberry! Obama is also shown at Cardinal Fastener & Specialty Company, Inc., in Bedford Heights, Ohio on 1/16/09. Credit: UPI/Newscom
It is easy to get lonely and isolated at the top that you lose touch with reality. Obama has always said this and I guess he is trying to work against it. Good for him. Without my BB I am lost.
What a great speech Obama is giving.
I can’t wait until Tuesday.
I was watching his speech before he left Philadelphia this morning almost crying. I can’t wait, I can’t wait!
Back on topic, but I am addicted to my PDA as well. It is not a BB, but a Windows Mobile phone. I intend to get a BB for my birthday in March. I just have to decide which one.
I had a BB but gave it up for a Nokia smartphone instead! The jangling tones of the BB were annoying, and in a meeting room, you’ll hear ten of them go off at the same time but won’t know whose BB it belongs to.
My husband and I had a BB and a Treo until the IPhones came out and now we are completely addicted to them. I can do do much more with my IPhone than the Treo. Mr. Obama is justified in wanting to be accessible and in touch. Just as two working parents with commutes in different directions, my husband and I have used our phones for years to stay connected during the day while we worked 90 miles apart. It’s become essential for household management for some families.
Funny how things have changed though. Ten years ago I was just getting used to email. 🙂
*Fingers crossed* BB’s get hacked, so I hope he can keep proper track of it.
I can’t believe it. We’re gonna have a new President this next week! AHH FIIIINNNAAALLLY! I have never been this happy about a president in my life. (Im only 26) but still… I loved Clinton but this takes it to a whole new level. After 8 years of wanting to bury my head in the sand this feels so great!
AC – I completely agree with you . I have not felt hopeful about anything to do with govt in a long, long time…not that we’ve had any reason to. So now, can we really be hopeful and positive about the outlook for our nation? Yes we can!
Pray for the new presidents’ safety and wisdom. Remember what a heavy responsibiilty he will carry. And I hope his political enemies, most of them jealous far left wingers, will respect his decisions and not tear his character to pieces. I wish him well.
I’m just blown away by the fantastic leadership Obama has shown over the past couple of months.
Even some republicans are saying the same – anyone hear David Brooks (NY Times) & EJ Dion (Washington Post) on NPR last night? Brooks, the conservative, is literally gushing – it’s quite something. Here’s the link:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=99480307
It’s easy to use your power to destroy things – that’s about the only thing the Bush administration has done, really. Ruin our economy, bomb other countries, destroy lives everywhere.
Obama is all about using his power and intelligence to heal, to create, to bring people together and build a better future for everyone. Obama is showing himself to be a true visionary with the intelligence and determination to achieve those goals.
I am so happy to witness this, to be a part of it, to know my child has a chance at a much better future thanks to the positive change Obama is bringing to America and the world.
Whenever I see Obama I automatically break into a blissful, relaxed smile. He’s an automatic de-frowner.
Obama’s story is soooo Amazing and it brings tears to my eyes know that his story is now MY story and America’s story!!! I am proud beyond words and have expressed my deepest feelingd to the Obama team. He has a brother who is an accomplished pianist, mathmetician with an MBA living in southern China who also has an awesome story. Check it out: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/16/mark-ndesandjo-obamas-hal_n_158692.html
i cant wait for tuesday! i just wish i could be there to see it in person. but watching it on t.v. will be awesome too!
i remember on the day after the election i could almost feel a change in the air. it was so exciting. being young (23) this is the first time ive really gotten excited about politics. ive always been interested in them, but never felt so involved & hopeful!
bush will probably go down as the WORST pres. in history, but i can say he did one good thing-he got a LOT of people involved in the election that might not have been interested before! so…yay!
I am withholding my brainless excitement at Obama’s presidency until he actually accomplishes some of the “changes” he promised.
Until that time, he’s just another politician, and an almost-president with no experience doing anything related to office for more than a few months.
Bush is a dolt, Obama is an unknown commodity and– oh, yeah, not an American citizen.
But that doesn’t matter, it seems, because a generation of one and two election voters are excited.
I’m sorry, but if you are President and giving up a mobile device to increase security is necessary, then do it. I don’t buy this ‘addiction’ people have to a gadget.
Obama is great, but he’s going to be president, he’s no longer one of “us” now, regardless of what you want to believe. Time to show a bit of maturity and give it up if it’s a security risk.
me2- youre still going on about the “hes not a u.s. citizen!” thing? STILL? man, i thought people were over that b.s.
im pretty sure that if he wasnt a citizen, someone would have caught that by now…dont you think? i mean, cmon now.
It HAS been caught, aleach, and suits have been filed with Obama not submitting any of the court-ordered documents, which also constitutes breaking the law.
I am far more concerned with the thrust of my posting, which you chose to ignore, not the four words you zeroed in on. He’s not qualified to hold the position.
And on a sidenote, we’re in a recession and they’re spending $150 million on his inauguration (yeah, yeah, I know “mostly security”. Not). But he’s not your regular politician, he wants “change”.
Me2, any person born of an American citizen, no matter where they are in the world, is an American citizen. His mother was an American citizen.
The reason why the courts haven’t brought any of that up and haven’t given any time to those lawsuits is because they are baseless nonsense.
You are incorrect, NetBlonde. His citizenship was revoked by his parents when he was educated in the public school system in Indonesia during a time of unrest when ONLY Indonesian citizens were permitted to enroll in their schools.
Once that happens, regardless of the place or parentage of birth– he could only be a naturalized US citizen.
who cares?? how is barack obama getting to keep his cell phone newsworthy? is he a politician or a publicist?
p.s. quarrelers – obama has failed to produce a US birth certificate. unless we see it, i question his legitimate citizenship also.
Me2. That’s a very interesting assertion you’ve made there. I’ve heard of people having to rescind their citizenship when taking up the citizenship of another country. But I’ve never heard of anyone being stripped of their citizenship (and certainly not US citizenship) because they were enrolled in a primary school during a time of unrest.
Could you post your source for this (ideally a link to the statue books or newspaper of record, rather than a partisan blog or youtube channel with no biblography or no official sources either from the US or Indonesia)
Krom, last October officials in Hawaii confirmed that he was born there and the short-copy or certification of his birth certificate has been released. Just because the voices in the heads of conspiracy theorists tell them it’s a nefarious plot by the Illuminati, Free-masons, Zionists and the Fraggles of Fraggle-Rock doesn’t mean it’s so.
I admit, I don’t know if the original or a long-form copy has been released. But it proves little, as the record books will be in Hawaii for all to see.
For example, I don’t have my long-form birth cert (never have and even my long-form copy went missing years ago when I had to send it to a govt deptartment. But I was still born in Ireland and therefore have Irish citizenship and am registered as such in the local government records, regardless of the location of my birth certificate.