Reuters: Obama says he'll fight to keep his BlackBerry

[Pirate Smile]

Obama says he'll fight to keep his BlackBerry

By Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect Barack Obama vowed a fight to the finish on Wednesday -- not over his economic plan, but to hang on to his BlackBerry.

"They're going to pry it out of my hands," he told CBNC about his BlackBerry, a cellphone made by Research In Motion Ltd that handles e-mail and has become an essential accessory for on-the-go movers and shakers.

-snip-
During the session, he described in detail his frustration at being trapped in the White House bubble, citing examples from his recently concluded vacation in Hawaii where he said he was discouraged from going body-surfing.
He said his wife, Michelle, was amused at the hubbub over photographs showing him on the beach without wearing a shirt.
"It was silly, but, you know, silliness goes with this job," he said.

Obama said keeping in touch by e-mail was a way of escaping the trappings of power and staying in touch with regular people.
After all, Harry Truman once referred to the White House as the "great white jail."
"I've got to look for every opportunity to do that -- ways that aren't scripted, ways that aren't controlled, ways where, you know, people aren't just complimenting you or standing up when you enter into a room, ways of staying grounded," he said.

As of now, he is hanging on to his BlackBerry.
"This is a concern, I should add, not just of Secret Service, but also lawyers. You know, this town's full of lawyers. I don't know if you've noticed," he said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSTRE50701M20090108?feedType=RSS&feedName=politicsNews&sp=true

NYT has an article up on it too:

Obama says he'll fight to keep his BlackBerry

WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama has yet to relent, but he conceded that he might be losing the battle to keep his independent lifeline to the outside world.

-snip-
“I don’t know that I’ll win,” Mr. Obama said. But, he added, “I’m still fighting it.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/08/us/politics/08berry.html

:loveya:And now, a photographic love story - Obama and his Blackberry:loveya:

[babylonsister]

1. Rec'd and Ha! I hope he wins this fight and has some outside influence.

I want this man to stay curious, and if the Blackberry helps? Bring it on!

[Submariner]

2. Non-official emails/texts between friends shouldn't be a problem

for national security or the SS imo.

[Muttocracy]

3. I thought part of the issue was GPS tracking/hacking. And can't Obama keep in touch

the way those of us who don't have a Blackberry do? Telephone? In person? Can't they make a personal email account for him somehow?

[HughMoran]

6. Until I had a Blackberry, I didn't understand the attraction

Now it's never far from me. Being able to have conversations with several people via text or email no matter your location is very productive and keeps emails from getting stale.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

10. It's just nice not coming to work and getting shocked by a flood of email.

I don't often reply after work unless its an emergency or a quick answer, but I just like a slow trickle instead of the flood that comes when you've been away.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

9. I'm sure they can design one without GPS for him.

Hell, Verizon seems to have done a good job disabling the GPS chip on the 8830s. Just get him one of those.

[AtomicKitten]

4. The man wants to be plugged in, dammit!

[zulchzulu]

5. The solution is very simple. His Blackberry would be synced to a secure BB server

Whatever he transmits now is already sent to a Blackberry server anyway and saved. This isn't rocket science except for people who have zero IT skills or knowledge. And it can easily be secure with terrabit encryption and other fairly light lifting... It's the 21st Century, damn it!

I had the good fortune to work with the Secret Service when Kerry was preparing for the first debate (I was a driver) and they lent me a cell phone that literally had an untraceable, virtual number that would never be able to be used or detected once I dialed the number. It's all about dynamic changing addresses that are encrypted and uses the same processes as DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) where the addresses are literally impossible to figure out.

Do you think the Secret Service doesn't use secure Blackberry technology?

:rofl:

[Pirate Smile]

7. kick

[demodonkey]

8. If somebody told me I couldn't send an e-mail for four years or eight, I'D RESIGN.

He's the Pres. HE should set his own limits.

[Clio the Leo]

11. Ever see the video....

.... of him on his Crackberry walking outside the Capitol and almost running into a pole?

Yeah ... we've all been there. ;)