Obama unhappy with White House tech
It is no secret that Barack Obama is a technology fan. He is not overwhelmed, however, by the technology that he found when he began to look around the White House
Obama championed technology concepts throughout his campaign, making wireless broadband, the nation’s electricity grid and similar subjects the matter of campaign briefing papers and featuring them on his campaign Web site. His campaign was well known for its use of the Web, SMS technology, and other Tech tools to attract and stay in contact with his supporters.
He became briefly yet more famous (among geeks) for his use of a Blackberry cell phone during the campaign, leading to speculation as to whether or not he would be able to keep the device if he were to be elected. As it turned out, he not only will be able to keep his phone, but there is an entire governmental agency called National Communications System (NCS) whose job it is to make sure that his phone calls (and the calls of other government leaders and employees) go through without a hitch.
Best of all, our new President has been seen with a MacBook Pro on several occasions, as have several members of his staff. Obama seems to understand the technology that he uses and to greatly appreciate it. He was therefore less than impressed when he and his staff took a look at the computers that powered the White House during the last administration, according to a Yahoo story.
First, they are PCs and not Macs. Second, much of the software being used were versions of Microsoft programs that had been out of date for six years. Worse, there were very few laptops in use, and those only for use by a select few. Much of the key Obama campaign staff came with the new President and were happy Mac users. In a story reported by the New York Post, one line read “Laptops were scarce, assigned to only a few people in the West Wing. The team was left struggling to put closed captions on online videos.”
If the team wants Macs, the team should have Macs, including the team leader, Barack Obama. Perhaps Apple will step up to the plate and get that ball rolling very quickly, providing the key members of the Obama team with Mac laptops. And while they are at it, maybe they can convince him to dump that Blackberry in favor if a shiny new 3G iPhone.
Related Posts:
January 24th, 2009
No, inspite of all the fandom as Obama raising the dead and parting the oceans, the truth is the first email sent from the White House in 1992. It came online from Clinton a year later.
Laptops are restricted for security. Perhaps you’ve seen a story or two about the chaos that occur when laptops with sensitive information are lost.
All the Mac users angst just points out they have no concept of enterprise computing, only the little world of their end point desktop or laptop. Yeah, lets just make the government become hostage to if Jobs kills firewire.
Interesting how Haliburton and no bid contracts has foam fleck peasants bleating and running for pitch forks but having an entire huge IT system with security safe guards tossed so “the one”, with no experience in system analysis or any business/private sector practice can just wave his magic wand and make the problems go away. Hopefully he can find a genius bar in Prague.
My 10 year old granddaughter uses facebook and twitters, has a blog and would tell you she would be unable to function without her cell phone.
I know the most direct route to my home, it would cut my travel time and make me more productive if I can blow off those pesky one way streets and other worthless rules like stop signs and red lights.
I have no problems with Apple computers, but come on.
January 25th, 2009
This just goes to show you how proprietary and closed natured Microsoft solutions are. And Microsoft is so bad at cross-platform compatibility that using Microsoft Office on Windows and Mac can be an unpredictable and unrewarding experience. The US Government needs to break away from proprietary IT infrastructure so they’re not locked down by a single vendor (such as Microsoft). Microsoft software licensing in the enterprise space is outrageous in cost and is a BIG waste of tax dollars. If I was CIO under President Barack Obama, that would be my first initiative for the US Government, reduce the costs of IT across all Federal government agencies and enforce the E-Government Act 2002 everywhere possible.
January 25th, 2009
The presidents laptop should have an advanced ‘Active’ defense subsystem. Sorta like a Ninja, Kung Foo, virus and spam flinger that makes life hell for anyone other than the President that might try to hack it. It should have a personality subsystem dedicated to escaping from its capters and returning home.. like those laptops that start broadcasting its webcam when it detects its being hacked. And maybe it should have a GPS locator that has to be able to tell where it is at all times and self destructs if its stolen.
Remember that movie Air Force One.. I wonder what the Presidental laptop should be designated.. IPv6 One?
January 26th, 2009
Sounds like a plan!
January 29th, 2009
Why should Macs not be the computer of choice? Why should we be tied to either political conservatives or to Microsoft Windows? Why should relative Luddism be expected to prevail? *I* should not be the one to “come on.”