Disqus
Barack Obama
U.S. President-Elect Barack Obama has been known to be a fervent BlackBerry user, continually keeping up to date with his extensive political and personal network while on the campaign trail, but that lifestyle may be shortly coming to an end now that he’s on the way to the White House and faces a wide variety of security concerns, including the Presidential Records Act, which puts all of his communications (e-mail and otherwise) in the public domain. As a result, any information communicated via BlackBerry (or e-mail, for that matter) could be viable ammunition for press looking to embarass the President. Of course, no sensitive information is ever sent over BlackBerry within governments – typically there is a dedicated secure address where the meat and potatoes of top secret work is done. This move is strictly to save political face, and aides believe it’s a necessary one.
Now, as far as I’m concerned, it would be a crying shame for Obama to lose his BlackBerry. He has already established himself as a tech-savvy and forward-thinking prez with rumours of him being the first U.S. head of state to have a computer in the Oval Office, tweeting regularly, and even having weekly addresses via YouTube. Using a BlackBerry would be just one more way Obama could break the mould for the better. It would be a mark of confidence to continue to use his BlackBerry and e-mail, despite paparazzi snooping around his Outbox. Heck, this guy has credibility in spades – any dirt press managed to dig up wouldn’t stick for long.
[via NYTimes]
About The Author
Simon Sage
Simon Sage’s education largely surrounded writing, technology and online community, leading him to begin his blogging career at www.BlackBerryCool.com and to quickly discover a vibrant and active community surrounding BlackBerry and mobile technology. In exploring RIM’s platform, he has learned what enterprises are looking for in mobility as well as what makes the innocuous BlackBerry so appealing to them. Recently Simon’s been covering RIM’s gradual move into an already-crowded consumer market, and the impact of burgeoning challengers, such as the iPhone, as well as long-time leaders, like Nokia, on BlackBerry’s advancement. With plenty of content under his belt, Simon will be branching off a bit to see what other smartphone manufacturers are working on while still using BlackBerry as a barometer. At IntoMobile, you can count on his posts being even-handed, well-informed and thought-out.
