Kiss Your BlackBerry Good-Bye Mr. Prez

I read this in Charged and thought this was kinda regressive! Read on...reproduced from Charged


Forget about Obama being the first mobile president — the feds will be stripping him of his BlackBerry.

His impressive use of mobile communications and social networking tools during his campaign has led many to speculate that Obama would take these tools to the White House. With these tools, he could lead the people much more effectively — ushering in a new era of politics.

But it seems that the Oval Office just doesn’t get the signal, according to an article in the New York Times:

…before he arrives at the White House, he will probably be forced to sign off. In addition to concerns about e-mail security, he faces the Presidential Records Act, which puts his correspondence in the official record and ultimately up for public review, and the threat of subpoenas. A decision has not been made on whether he could become the first e-mailing president, but aides said that seemed doubtful…

…But in the interceding eight years, as BlackBerrys have become ubiquitous — and often less intrusive than a telephone, the volume of e-mail has multiplied and the role of technology has matured. Mr. Obama used e-mail to stay in constant touch with friends from the lonely confines of the road, often sending messages like “Sox!” when the Chicago White Sox won a game. He also relied on e-mail to keep abreast of the rapid whirl of events on a given campaign day.

Mr. Obama’s memorandums and briefing books were seldom printed out and delivered to his house or hotel room, aides said. They were simply sent to his BlackBerry for his review. If a document was too long, he would read and respond from his laptop computer, often putting his editing changes in red type.

Perhaps it really is time for a change.