Obama's misdirected statement about the iPod, iPad, XBox and PlayStation
President Obama said the following at a commencement speech at Hampton University:
You're coming of age in a 24/7 media environment that bombards us with all kinds of content and exposes us to all kinds of arguments, some of which don't always rank that high on the truth meter. And with iPods and iPads, and Xboxes and PlayStations - none of which I know how to work - information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment, rather than a tool of empowerment, rather than the means of emancipation. So all of this is not only putting pressure on you; it's putting new pressure on our country and on our democracy.
I agree that the iPod, iPad, XBox and PlayStation can be -- and often are -- a distraction. What bothers me about the assertion is that is states that President Obama believes that these devices are putting pressure on the country's democracy because they expose "us to all kind of arguments, some of which don't always rank high on the truth meter" by turning information into distraction, diversion and a form of entertainment.
There is something very Fahrenheit 451 about that statement.
Is it better not to have access to all kinds of arguments? Should we just have access to arguments which rank high on the truth meter? Should we be afraid of devices that facilitate access to information? No, no, no, and the fact that he even suggested these things is kind of scary.
I want to believe that this was just a poorly written statement that he included in the speech more as a father to keep his daughters from spending time on these devices than as the President of the United States. But he is a lawyer and an excellent speech writer, it would be odd if he did not mean to say what he did. Which ever the case. His assertion was patronizing and misdirected at best.
And talking about distractions, I rank receiving prayers to your Blackberry every day higher and more troublesome.
