Technologizer

I just saw a piece by Jonathan Alter on Newsweek that responds to the talk surrounding Obama’s BlackBerry use: that it poses a security risk and he will be forced to surrender it upon inauguration. Alter argues that in order for Obama to be successful in the presidency, he will need to remain connected to the outside world — not just his cadre of advisers, officials and the like.

This is beneficial because sometimes Washington becomes an echo chamber of sorts. Sometimes, the people with the best view of things are outside the Beltway, and the president needs to hear these people. Wouldn’t succumbing to the Washington way of thought and blocking out the outside world come at an antithesis to what Obama’s preached his entire campaign?

Stephen Wildstrom at BusinessWeek has also opined in support of Obama keeping his gadget rights, adding that BlackBerry traffic is “encrypted to standards that meet Federal Information Procession Standards for sensitive but unclassified information.” He also says that the president-elect should already know how to handle classified and sensitive material, so he likely wouldn’t be thumb-tapping out senstive stuff on his BlackBerry anyway.

I see additional reasons why Mr. Obama should be able to keep his device. With the country moving into such an uncertain period, having some type of instantaneous communications with his staff and cabinet. Being able to make quicker decisions is something that I think would be very beneficial.

Yes, I can understand the security concerns. But come on, this is the 21st Century. A leader these days should be able to use the technologies around him if its going to make him (or her) a more effective leader.

What do you think?

While the Obama campaign has been pretty innovative in its uses of technology, this latest move takes the cake in my opinion. The official iPhone application debuted on Thursday, which is yet another method for the campaign to stay closely connected to its supporters.

The primary feature here seems to be the call a friend functionality. Contacts, taken from the iPhone address book, are sorted by state with the most competitive listed first. For example, my contacts from Virginia, Ohio, Florida, Indiana, and Pennsylvania were listed at the top, while those in Delaware, Hawaii, and New York were listed at the bottom.

No personal data is shared with the campaign — only anonymous call data — and the application will also allow users to keep track of whom they called and their intentions.

The iPhone’s GPS functionality is put to use: users would be able to find a local campaign office in relation to their current location, as well as events in the area. Links to news, video and photos from the trail are also included, as well as talking points on Obama’s positions when talking about the candidate to friends.

An official webpage is available on the Obama website, and it is available through the App Store. Those who don’t have an iPhone should not fret — the WAP page for the campaign offers some of the same features.

I think this application is a great idea. Obama supporters have shown that they are (generally) a more technically sophisticated bunch, using the Internet a great deal to organize, raise money, and disseminate information on the candidate.

What of course remains to be seen is how responsive supporters are to this latest attempt at keeping its supporters involved. The application has apparently only been live on the iTunes App Store since this morning, so its a little early yet to judge.