Say Goodbye to BlackBerry? Yes He Can, Maybe

Sorry, Mr. President. Please surrender your BlackBerry.

Those are seven words President-elect Barack Obama is dreading but expecting to hear, friends and advisers say, when he takes office in 65 days.

For years, like legions of other professionals, Mr. Obama has been all but addicted to his BlackBerry. The device has rarely been far from his side ”” on most days, it was fastened to his belt ”” to provide a singular conduit to the outside world as the bubble around him grew tighter and tighter throughout his campaign.

“How about that?” Mr. Obama replied to a friend’s congratulatory e-mail message on the night of his victory.

But 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.

Read it all.

print

Posted in * Culture-Watch, * Economics, Politics, Blogging & the Internet, Law & Legal Issues, Science & Technology, US Presidential Election 2008

2 comments on “Say Goodbye to BlackBerry? Yes He Can, Maybe

  1. Ad Orientem says:

    I am somewhat surprised it was not taken away right after his victory speech. I would be even more surprised if he has it after this article hit the press. Those things simply can not be made secure from hackers and the like.

    Under the mercy,
    [url=http://ad-orientem.blogspot.com/]John[/url]

    An [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gj4pUphDitA]Orthodox [/url] Christian

  2. Jeffersonian says:

    That’s a sad commentary on the use and misuse of technology today. That said, surely Presidents have alternate, secure methods of communication that are as good as, if not superior to, the Crackberry.