BlackBerry buff President Obama declared war on technology yesterday — singling out Apple’s super-popular iPods and iPads for criticism.
Obama — whose election was credited, in part, to his skillful use of modern media, from smart phones to Twitter to Flickr — yesterday told college graduates that high-tech gizmos and apps are straining American democracy.
“With iPods and iPads and Xboxes and PlayStations — none of which I know how to work — information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment, rather than a tool of empowerment, rather than the means of emancipation,” Obama said at Hampton University in Virginia.
Lobbing more grenades than the popular “Call of Duty” video game at targets like Apple, Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony, Obama described the companies’ most popular offerings as distractions that are putting unnecessary pressure on the country.
Obama also lamented the spread of social media and blogs through which “some of the craziest claims can quickly claim traction.”
“All of this is not only putting new pressures on you,” Obama said. “It is putting new pressures on our country and on our democracy.”
“We can’t stop these changes,” Obama said, “but we can adapt to them. And education is what can allow us to do so. It can fortify you, as it did earlier generations, to meet the tests of your own time.”
Obama, who at one time had a rapper on his iPod and still has a White House-provided profile on Facebook, warned that the world is at a moment of “breathtaking change.”
Yet in a speech before members of a generation that never knew life without a computer, Obama came close to declaring technology — and the information it spawns — the enemy.
“With so many voices clamoring for attention on blogs, on cable, on talk radio, it can be difficult, at times, to sift through it all; to know what to believe; to figure out who’s telling the truth and who’s not,” Obama said.
“Let’s face it — even some of the craziest claims can quickly gain traction. I’ve had some experience with that myself. Fortunately, you’ll be well positioned to navigate this terrain.”
(Source: NY Post)
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11 Responses
Definitive proof he’s a middle-aged boomer, and a parent.
No more passing himself as the cool next thing…
When the message being spread was to elect him then he was ok with it. Now that he’s become unpopular he is upset about it. His speech almost sounds like communism where the govt told people information was not good for them. This man is showing his true colors and is really dangerous.
Not hard to guess where this perspective comes from.
What about Al-Jezeera – is that bad technology too?
wow.
he’s scary.
I think China also bans these things.
My irony-meter just exploded.
How ironic. When our Gedolim say basiclly the thing (for diffrent reasons of course)they are called fanatical, out of touch with realty.
The realty is he is fore telling what he plans to do with this technology and that is block it. He wants to control the internet through the FCC. Watch him; he is a dangerous control freak and wants to turn the USA into the USSR or worse. He is surrounded by commies, leftist, maoist and now look what he is saying. Nudge, nudge, nudge. He says this; than he will say he is limiting its use to protect America, and than he will shut it down on anything that does not agree with his ways. Listen to what Glenn Beck warned 6 months ago about obama wanting to control the internet; now he is nudging by saying it is no good. People wake up and contact your congress men and women to keep America free. This is not freedom he is proposing
Reb Chaim: It is for exactly the same reason; distraction. At the recent Torah Umesorah Leadership Conference one of the Gedolim referred to a world-wide ADD due in part to the distractions these devises cause. We need to fight the distraction with attraction (diveikus). I would like to call the world-wide ADD he referred to as ATTRACTION Deficit Disorder or Addictive Distraction Disorder. Either way, the gedolim, not surprisingly, understood the problem long before the President did.
What a hypocrite! When Obama came into office, he INSISTED on bringing his Blackberry along with him despite concerns of security breaches by his intelligence and security officials. Also, when presenting a gift to Queen Elizabeth, what do you suppose he gives her as representation of the American people? An I-Pod!!!
He is a BIG FAT LIAR!! He uses the BlackBerry. He is ADDICTED to it. He doesnt like the I products because of the way mass info can be transferred from place to place so he is forced to behave better.
Dont worry, he only lies when his lips move.
um… technology is bad because of how quickly information can spread? Hey Mr. Constitutional Law professor, ever heard of FREEDOM OF PRESS??? FREEDOM OF SPEECH? How on Earth did a man with no concept of basic American principles become the leader of this country?