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This makes me sad. Despite my political opposition to Obama, I thought that he understood the culture of the "IPod, XBox era." In fact, he leveraged these tool

This makes me sad. Despite my political opposition to Obama, I thought that he understood the culture of the "IPod, XBox era." In fact, he leveraged these tools of 'diversion' in his campaign (and did so very effectively). This seems to be the knee-jerk technophobic speech that politicians would have given in the latter half of the 20th Century. Instead of being afraid and resistant to technology (which, as we have seen, is unstoppable anyway), politicians should be encouraging the public to put these technological advances to good use. See: David Cameron's TED talk (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ELnyoso6vI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ELnyoso6vI). He highlights a significant point in his speech, as tel says. Being able to deal with all of the information is something that we need to cope with. However, placing the blame on the tools is not the way to go.

silentOpen 16y ago
He's not placing the blame on the tools any more than you or I would bemoan the hours 'lost' to Hacker News. It's a longer view, step back. We do need to come to grips with the social changes that are occurring and the implications of our present and future digital lives. Our man-made environment isn't the problem, it's our evolutionary memory combined with the phenomenal acceleration of information technology.
- hammerdr 16y ago
  I disagree because of this one line in his speech: "none of which I know how to work" which reads like the classic politician's way of distancing him- or herself from the technology (and have heard from technophobic politicians--http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/11/mccain-admits-he-doesnt-k_n_106478.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/11/mccain-admits-he-do...). Whether its true or not isn't really the point (do we seriously believe Obama wouldn't know what to do with a iPad, iPhone or iPod?), the point is that it was in his speech. I could be completely off base here (and I surely hope that I am!), but this is a decidedly late 20th century speech in my interpretation.
  - brown9-2 16y ago
    The President knows how to use an iPod and regularly uses a Blackberry. He is certainly not a technophobe, you are misreading everything he says if you believe this. I think he is just being innocently self-deprecating.
    - tokipin 16y ago
      yes, it is what we would refer to as "humor"
  - ErrantX 16y ago
    The article deliberately highlights that as an aside - and none of the transcripts have it in them (that I can find). I can't find a video that covers the portion of the speech but it could well be a joke - or a bit of irony. It reads that way.
TriinT 16y ago
Sorry, but your argument is nonsensical. I may disagree with Obama on some political issues, but I entirely agree with his point. He's not attacking technology, he's attacking complacency and indolence. Hence, technophobic is not the word to use to describe his speech. Technology, per se, is neutral. In an era of information overload, when the ability to focus has almost become a luxury, it seems plausible to think of the iPod and the Xbox as unnecessary distractions that cause more harm than good. The U.S. is fighting two (virtually) unwinnable wars and, yet, the masses seem to be more concerned with trivialities such as Tiger Woods' philandering, celebrity gossip, Steve Jobs health status, etc etc etc. Time is scarce, and time spent on sending text messages to friends on your iPhone, or on killing virtual aliens on Xbox is time that is not being spent on education. The media have become a circus, trading education for easy entertainment. "Books" from dimwits like Gladwell become best-sellers. Civil liberties are stolen from us, and yet we're too busy with Facebook to pay attention to it. We have become "soft" and docile, and we have forgotten that "the price to pay for tranquility is eternal vigilance" (paraphrasing Jefferson), that liberty and prosperity are not birth-rights but rather something one fights for constantly.
thaumaturgy 16y ago
I'm unsurprised that the readers here latched right on to the tools mentioned in the article, and entirely missed the point of his statements: > ...politicians should be encouraging the public to put these technological advances to good use. This is exactly his point. He used a few devices to hi-lite the difference between information-as-entertainment, and information-as-a-tool. This in no way makes him hypocritical for being constantly connected to a Blackberry; he's using the device in exactly the way that he's urging young graduates to use going forward. (It may make him a little hypocritical for his campaign machine, though.) I think he's right. I think he's being proven right all the time by sites like Reddit, which were supposed to democratize the news, except that instead they repeatedly become a megaphone for internet tough guy squads and get hyped over issues where they don't have all the facts. Or like HackerNews, where daring to mention some high-tech devices causes everyone to completely miss the actual point of an argument.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
AKSHAYUDAYBHAT 16y ago
IPAD/XBOX arent about information but about content they are about wasting time watching videos and playing games. And not about creating content, ppl on this forum have lost their minds. IPad is walled garden where papa Steve wants you to spend all your bucks on frivolity. Plz dont mistake it for information revolution or anything.
deleted 16y ago
[deleted]

silentOpen 16y ago

He's not placing the blame on the tools any more than you or I would bemoan the hours 'lost' to Hacker News. It's a longer view, step back. We do need to come to grips with the social changes that are occurring and the implications of our present and future digital lives. Our man-made environment isn't the problem, it's our evolutionary memory combined with the phenomenal acceleration of information technology.

hammerdr 16y ago
I disagree because of this one line in his speech: "none of which I know how to work" which reads like the classic politician's way of distancing him- or herself from the technology (and have heard from technophobic politicians--http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/11/mccain-admits-he-doesnt-k_n_106478.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/11/mccain-admits-he-do...). Whether its true or not isn't really the point (do we seriously believe Obama wouldn't know what to do with a iPad, iPhone or iPod?), the point is that it was in his speech. I could be completely off base here (and I surely hope that I am!), but this is a decidedly late 20th century speech in my interpretation.
- brown9-2 16y ago
  The President knows how to use an iPod and regularly uses a Blackberry. He is certainly not a technophobe, you are misreading everything he says if you believe this. I think he is just being innocently self-deprecating.
  - tokipin 16y ago
    yes, it is what we would refer to as "humor"
- ErrantX 16y ago
  The article deliberately highlights that as an aside - and none of the transcripts have it in them (that I can find). I can't find a video that covers the portion of the speech but it could well be a joke - or a bit of irony. It reads that way.

TriinT 16y ago

Sorry, but your argument is nonsensical. I may disagree with Obama on some political issues, but I entirely agree with his point. He's not attacking technology, he's attacking complacency and indolence. Hence, technophobic is not the word to use to describe his speech. Technology, per se, is neutral. In an era of information overload, when the ability to focus has almost become a luxury, it seems plausible to think of the iPod and the Xbox as unnecessary distractions that cause more harm than good. The U.S. is fighting two (virtually) unwinnable wars and, yet, the masses seem to be more concerned with trivialities such as Tiger Woods' philandering, celebrity gossip, Steve Jobs health status, etc etc etc. Time is scarce, and time spent on sending text messages to friends on your iPhone, or on killing virtual aliens on Xbox is time that is not being spent on education. The media have become a circus, trading education for easy entertainment. "Books" from dimwits like Gladwell become best-sellers. Civil liberties are stolen from us, and yet we're too busy with Facebook to pay attention to it. We have become "soft" and docile, and we have forgotten that "the price to pay for tranquility is eternal vigilance" (paraphrasing Jefferson), that liberty and prosperity are not birth-rights but rather something one fights for constantly.

thaumaturgy 16y ago

I'm unsurprised that the readers here latched right on to the tools mentioned in the article, and entirely missed the point of his statements: > ...politicians should be encouraging the public to put these technological advances to good use. This is exactly his point. He used a few devices to hi-lite the difference between information-as-entertainment, and information-as-a-tool. This in no way makes him hypocritical for being constantly connected to a Blackberry; he's using the device in exactly the way that he's urging young graduates to use going forward. (It may make him a little hypocritical for his campaign machine, though.) I think he's right. I think he's being proven right all the time by sites like Reddit, which were supposed to democratize the news, except that instead they repeatedly become a megaphone for internet tough guy squads and get hyped over issues where they don't have all the facts. Or like HackerNews, where daring to mention some high-tech devices causes everyone to completely miss the actual point of an argument.

deleted 16y ago
[deleted]

AKSHAYUDAYBHAT 16y ago

IPAD/XBOX arent about information but about content they are about wasting time watching videos and playing games. And not about creating content, ppl on this forum have lost their minds. IPad is walled garden where papa Steve wants you to spend all your bucks on frivolity. Plz dont mistake it for information revolution or anything.

deleted 16y ago

[deleted]