I'm guessing Balta already posted this, but I seemed to have missed it.

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27740220/

 

By Jeff Zelenyupdated 7:43 p.m. CT, Sat., Nov. 15, 2008 function UpdateTimeStamp(pdt) { var n = document.getElementById("udtD"); if(pdt != '' && n && window.DateTime) { var dt = new DateTime(); pdt = dt.T2D(pdt); if(dt.GetTZ(pdt)) {n.innerHTML = dt.D2S(pdt,((''.toLowerCase()=='false')?false:true));} } } UpdateTimeStamp('633623966396400000');WASHINGTON - 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.

Mr. Obama, however, seems intent on pulling the office at least partly into the 21st century on that score; aides said he hopes to have a laptop computer on his desk in the Oval Office, making him the first American president to do so.

 

Three days before his first inauguration, George W. Bush sent a message to 42 friends and relatives that explained his predicament. “Since I do not want my private conversations looked at by those out to embarrass, the only course of action is not to correspond in cyberspace,” Mr. Bush wrote from his old address, G94B@aol.com.

We should have known

 

Mr. Obama used e-mail to stay in constant touch with friends from the lonely confines of the road, often sending messages like “Sox!” when the Chicago White Sox won a game. He also relied on e-mail to keep abreast of the rapid whirl of events on a given campaign day.

 

More, much more than this, at the link.

 

 

 

FOr those who are interested, listen to this weeks This Week in Tech podcast. They had a great discussion on this. One guest, Jason Calacanis, had a very interesting idea on how he could still use e-mail but limit what comes in and who gets in.

 

Basically, he suggested a system when when you send Obama an e-mail, you get an e-mail back telling you that this will go into the public record, do you want to continue? If you say no, your e-mail is destroyed and never reaches "public record" or the president's in-box. The other option was to limit WHO can send you e-mails. Make a list of acceptable senders and you know your correspondence is limited.

Personally, I understand the security aspects, and the fear of anything and everything becoming public, but it seems like there should be a middle ground here that would allow the President of the US to use some tools. No computer on his desk? That's crazy.

 

No computer, no cell phone, no crackberry? What's left to do? Hey Monica, whatcha doing . . .

Personally, I understand the security aspects, and the fear of anything and everything becoming public, but it seems like there should be a middle ground here that would allow the President of the US to use some tools. No computer on his desk? That's crazy.

 

No computer, no cell phone, no crackberry? What's left to do? Hey Monica, whatcha doing . . .

Agreed.

Personally, I understand the security aspects, and the fear of anything and everything becoming public, but it seems like there should be a middle ground here that would allow the President of the US to use some tools. No computer on his desk? That's crazy.

 

No computer, no cell phone, no crackberry? What's left to do? Hey Monica, whatcha doing . . .

 

Run the country?

Run the country?

 

You beat me to it.

Run the country?

 

Exactly. What CEO under 70 years-old do you think is untethered? It's like the POTUS has to Hey Mister an email?

On the podcast I mentioned, they brought up an interesting point. I think anything coming IN goes on the public record. So, imagine a scenario when an Obama GF from high School or college or even a prankster, sends an e-mail where she's like "hey, remember that time we totally got wasted on booze and crack? yea, then we did it all night long in the library, yea... that was great. Congrats on the presidency". Well, that's now on pubic record... even if it's 100% false.

Obama's got real smart tech people around him... they'll figure out a way to make it work.

Come on, without a laptop and internet connection, how is POTUS2k9 Going to post on Soxtalk? I was going to learn him some politics in the 'buster

Come on, without a laptop and internet connection, how is POTUS2k9 Going to post on Soxtalk? I was going to learn him some politics in the 'buster

Kinda makes you wonder if he's really on here and we dont know it.

POTUS2K9 meets Alpha Dog. Hilarity ensues.

Kinda makes you wonder if he's really on here and we dont know it.

AlphaDog sic 'em attack boy

 

POTUS2K9 meets Alpha Dog. Hilarity ensues.

 

we both posted at the same time

Come on, without a laptop and internet connection, how is POTUS2k9 Going to post on Soxtalk? I was going to learn him some politics in the 'buster

 

Yeah, you guys are going to be really shocked when I quit posting on Jan 20.

Yeah, you guys are going to be really shocked when I quit posting on Jan 20.

 

Was this some kind of Fathom type bet . . .

Was this some kind of Fathom type bet . . .

 

If I win the Presidency, I will never post on Soxtalk again!

If there was a politician molded after SS2K5, I'd vote for him.

If I win the Presidency, I will never post on Soxtalk again!

It would be the honorable thing to do We're gonna miss you. Except, they always come back.

If there was a politician molded after SS2K5, I'd vote for him.

If it meant he would never post again, there are lots of people that would vote for him.

That too.