No More Commodore 64s In The West Wing

Stories like this, about the primitive nature of the White House's communication apparatus, make me mental. Maybe the incompetence of the past eight years is attributable to idiotic Bush appointees, but maybe just as much to the fact that they were charged with running the most powerful nation on Earth with WordPerfect and a TRS-80.

Two years after launching the most technologically savvy presidential campaign in history, Obama officials ran smack into the constraints of the federal bureaucracy yesterday, encountering a jumble of disconnected phone lines, old computer software, and security regulations forbidding outside e-mail accounts.

What does that mean in 21st-century terms? No Facebook to communicate with supporters. No outside e-mail log-ins. No instant messaging. Hard adjustments for a staff that helped sweep Obama to power through, among other things, relentless online social networking.

"It is kind of like going from an Xbox to an Atari," Obama spokesman Bill Burton said of his new digs.

The White House website has been very late to update. The PCs in the White House have 6 year-old software on them. Laptops are generally not allowed. I remember being amazed that the Bush Administration would "accidentally" leak documents to reporters, but with the garbage tools they have to work with, I get why.

There are two problems here - inertia and compliance with the Presidental Records Act. On the latter, Congress needs to get involved - our government should have the best and most state-of-the-art equipment to do their job. On the former, the Obama Administration is the best in history to push the executive office into the 21st century.

Macbook Wheel

Sadly, the geniuses at Apple are probably taking notes from The Onion.


Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard

This also looks like every tech story I've ever seen on television. Really good work.

Surfing With Floaties

John McCain is aware of the Internets, but only dimly:

He said, ruefully, that he had not mastered how to use the Internet and relied on his wife and aides like Mark Salter, a senior adviser, and Brooke Buchanan, his press secretary, to get him online to read newspapers (though he prefers reading those the old-fashioned way) and political Web sites and blogs.

“They go on for me,” he said. “I am learning to get online myself, and I will have that down fairly soon, getting on myself. I don’t expect to be a great communicator, I don’t expect to set up my own blog, but I am becoming computer literate to the point where I can get the information that I need.”

Asked which blogs he read, he said: “Brooke and Mark show me Drudge, obviously. Everybody watches, for better or for worse, Drudge. Sometimes I look at Politico. Sometimes RealPolitics.” (it's RealClearPolitics -ed.)

At that point, Mrs. McCain, who had been intensely engaged with her BlackBerry, looked up and chastised her husband. “Meghan’s blog!” she said, reminding him of their daughter’s blog on his campaign Web site. “Meghan’s blog,” he said sheepishly.

Getting online requires a double-click on the browser application. I don't necessarily need a President to be able to install the DSL system or a universal broadband card, but the double-click seems to me like a pre-requisite.

Also interesting - in Washington, Drudge rules even the computer illiterate's world. As well as mini-Drudge.

I apologize in advance for demeaning McCain's peerless, impeccable service to our country.

Old Man McCain

Hey, I'm not the one making the slur (the RNC tells me that calling someone "old" is a slur, now), take your beef to the American electorate.

The top 10 answers people volunteered when asked to describe presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama, according to an Associated Press-Yahoo News poll released Monday. Included is the percentage of people who gave each answer. More than one response was allowed.

John McCain:
1, Old, 19 percent
2. Military service, 9 percent
3, Record, qualifications, 8 percent
4, Bush, 7 percent
5. Strength, 7 percent
6. Insider, politician, 7 percent
7. Iraq, terrorism, 6 percent
8. Honest, 5 percent
9. Republican, 5 percent
10. (tie) Moral/good and dishonest, 4 percent

When the guy admits that he can't use a computer, it tends to typecast him as from a different generation. But many people of advanced age, in fact the majority, happily use technology in their lives and have kept up with the times. I wouldn't call McCain old, I would call him retrograde. And such thinking is actually dangerous for the country.

And where is McCain on tech policy? Not so shockingly, the computer-free senator's campaign is not as plugged in as his rival's. In fact, his campaign website fails to address America's lagging performance on broadband access or affordability, the technological capabilities of the federal bureaucracy, or the Internet's ability to increase government transparency. "There are red flags," says Brian Reich, author of the book Media Rules!: Mastering Today's Technology to Connect With and Keep Your Audience and the former editor of Campaign Web Review, a blog that tracked the use of the Internet by candidates, campaigns, and activists.

Barack Obama has embraced the Internet, with his thunderous online fundraising and sophisticated MyBO website. (Plus, he's comfortable talking about what's on his iPod.) Unsurprisingly, high-tech leaders hail his comprehensive tech policies.

It's a major problem. America has fallen behind in broadband capacity, has failed to use the promise of technology in areas like health care and government transparency, is in danger of deleting the concept of network neutrality that would stunt innovation, and has generally seen its advantage on technology and the Internet wither. A tech policy is not just about tax breaks for the industry, it's about implementing and utilizing technology. And McCain opposes net neutrality on the advice of CEOs looking for another revenue stream:

I asked her about McCain's opposition to so-called network neutrality, proposed government rules that would prohibit Internet service providers from charging websites for faster delivery of their content. McCain is on the side of the cable and phone companies, which argue that the rules would squelch investment in new broadband networks. Obama has been a big supporter of net neutrality, a huge issue among online activists that adds to his Internet buzz factor, leading some (OK, it was us) to ask if Obama is a Mac and McCain a PC.

Fiorina said McCain understands the importance of the Internet and sees government-mandated net neutrality as a hindrance.

"There's no question that it is to our economy's benefit to have more Internet access, more broadband capability, to have this country more wired, so to speak, as we move forward.... I think John McCain understands the way to get that done effectively is by principally allowing business to get it done as opposed to a big government-mandated program. And business won't get it done unless they see sufficient return on their investment."

That's just a huge lie, which isn't surprising for Fiorina, a failed executive and professional liar who wants us to think that 23 million businesses make over $250,000 in sales when in actuality it's about 5% of that number. Net neutrality has brought untold wealth to this country and almost single-handedly created the tech boom of the mid-1990s. The incentive for telecoms to increase broadband capacity is opening up its customer base, which will make them plenty rich. Discriminating on content will make the Internet less popular, more stratified, and would funnel money to Fiorina and her pals.

McCain probably doesn't have a coherent answer on this at all. He's too busy finding the "ON" switch.

Shorter Old Man Yelling At Cloud

Let's get this straight: John McCain is not only aware of the Internet, he is aware of all Internet traditions.

Man, someone could make a name for themselves just following McCain around asking him about Rickrolling and all your base is belong to us.

I also agree with Yglesias and others that in the Age of Information, not knowing how to use a computer is almost disqualifying for a world leader.

UPDATE: A visual: