Sunday, November 16, 2008

Advancement or Not?

While I was on my home page today, I saw an interesting article titled, No email soon for web- savvy Obama? Interested in why he will not have an email, I clicked on the link. The article went into depth about how Obama will most likely have to lose his beloved blackberry once he takes office. Once I got a couple paragraphs into the article, I realized how much it related to the discussion we had in class on Wednesday. As the article progresses, it talks about how Obama is inseparable from his blackberry because it lets him stay connected with his acquaintances via email. And because of security measures, Obama will have to lose the cell phone once he takes office. This made me think back to our discussion on whether technology advancements that spurred in the last decade are good or bad. I thought that this article showed a little bit of both sides of the argument. Many people believe the advances are great because of the ability to communicate easily through email. But the internet also causes many security risks. Identify theft has sky rocketed since the internet has became popular. The article addressed a form of this risk, people hacking into Obama’s email and sending emails that could cause controversy. The Presidential Records Act would make this very harmful because it makes emails that the president sends available to the media. This would create a huge controversy if a hacker was able to hack into Obama’s personal email on his phone and send suspicious emails. Any false information about the stock market that would scare the buyers into selling is the last thing this country needs right now. I believe with every advancement comes a setback. The internet and email show the great progress this world has made, but it is impossible for it to come without a negative aspect, and this just happens to be it.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's pretty interesting. I didn't know how attached Obama was to his Blackberry, or that he had one at all, but it seems like that may have been a key cog in his campaign. Without it, he may not be the President Elect. He probably won't need it as much while he is President, because he isn't campaigning, and I don't think it will affect his ability to do his job whatsoever.

Patrick K. said...

I had no idea that Obama would have to lose his Blackberry once he took office. I guess it makes sense because of all the security threats that have become commonplace with technological advances. I believe these advances are definitely a form of "progress", but there are no doubt circumstances that can lead us to question what these devices are doing to our society. Obama would be nothing without his Blackberry, but as President of the U.S.A. he can no longer use it. I think it's important to look at such situations on a case by case basis, but always with an eye peeled for advances that aren't exactly the progress we think they are.