Obama Gets to Keep His Blackberry

Wired.com reports: President Obama is getting to keep his beloved smart phone. This is very good news. There were always three arguments against him keeping it, and all were malarkey.

The first was that it could be hacked. True! It probably will be hacked. But Obama can counter that. He obviously needs to encrypt it, he obviously needs to not store sensitive material on it, and people need to be aware that his emails may eventually get hacked. If Gen. Petraeus gets an email saying "invade Israel now," he should call the president by landline and make sure that's the order.

The second argument was records preservation. All presidential communication must be stored for posterity. Fine. Store everything.

The third argument was the most serious. Having a blackberry could make Obama easier to track, thus putting his security at risk. That is also true, but it can be combated. And Obama can leave the phone at home, or with an aide, when he really doesn't want his location known.

Smart phones don't always make us more efficient. But a president needs every possible way to use technology to get information from outside of the bubble that surrounds him. And now Obama has at least one small additional way to do that.

Also on Wired.com:

Candidate Supporters' Use of Gadgets Reveal Power of Brands
The Wired Presidency: Can Obama Really Reboot the White House?
Science We Can Believe In: How Obama Can Recharge US Research

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