| |  | | | | effect to deliver his message directly |
| | | | | to viewers, circumventing the |
| | | | | mainstream media in the process. |
| | | | | Presumably all those are examples of |
| | | | | good information (the empowering |
| | | | | sort) rather than bad (the distracting |
| | | | | or misleading sort). |
| | | 4 | | This distinction, of course, is |
| | | | | bogus. Anybody who has ever taken |
| | | | | a meeting knows that trying to hold |
| | | | | the attention of people with |
| 1 | | "WITH iPods and iPads and | | | | BlackBerrys is like trying to teach |
| | Xboxes and PlayStations - | | | | Latin to delinquent teenagers. And |
| | none of which I know how to work - | | | | the devices Mr Obama denounces |
| | information becomes a distraction, a | | | | have many constructive uses. |
| | diversion, a form of entertainment, | | | | Lectures, language lessons and |
| | rather than a tool of empowerment." | | | | course materials are among more |
| | In a speech to students at Hampton | | | | than 250,000 educational audio and |
| | University on May 9th, Mr Obama did | | | | video files available on iTunes. iPads |
| | not just name-check some big | | | | and their ilk may yet turn into a |
| | brands; he also [id:95224] a long tradition | | | | practical alternative to textbooks. |
| | of grumbling about new technologies | | | | Video games are widely used as |
| | and new forms of media. | | | | educational tools, not just for pilots, |
| 2 | | Socrates's bugbear was the | | | | soldiers and surgeons, but also in |
| | spread of the biggest-ever innovation | | | | schools and businesses. And Larry |
| | in communications - writing. He | | | | Katz, a Harvard economist, suspects |
| | feared that relying on written texts, | | | | that video games and websites may |
| | rather than the oral tradition, would | | | | have kept the young and idle busy |
| | "create forgetfulness in the learners' | | | | during this recession, thus explaining |
| | souls… they will trust to the external | | | | the surprising lack of an uptick in |
| | written characters and not remember | | | | crime. |
| | of themselves." Enos Hitchcock | | 5 | | Mr Obama complained that |
| | voiced a widespread concern about | | | | technology was putting "new |
| | the latest publishing fad in 1790. | | | | pressures on our country and on our |
| | "The free access which many young | | | | democracy". But iPods, iPads and |
| | people have to romances, novels and | | | | suchlike are not to blame for the |
| | plays has poisoned the mind and | | | | crazy theories - about, for instance, |
| | corrupted the morals of many a | | | | politicians' birth certificates - that |
| | promising youth." [id:95225] Cinema was | | | | circulate in the blogosphere. People |
| | denounced as “an evil pure and | | | | have always traded gossip: the |
| | simple” in 1910; comic books were | | | | internet just makes it easier and |
| | said to lead children into delinquency | | | | quicker. The culprit is [id:95228] , not |
| | in 1954; rock'n'roll was accused of | | | | technology. And new |
| | turning the young into “devil | | | | communications technologies tend to |
| | worshippers” in 1956; Hillary Clinton | | | | strengthen democracy, not weaken it, |
| | attacked video games for “stealing | | | | as revolutionaries have known ever |
| | the innocence of our children” in | | | | since Thomas Paine and others used |
| | 2005. | | | | the printing press to argue for |
| 3 | | Mr Obama is, at least, bang up to | | | | American independence. |
| | date with his reference to the iPad, | | 6 | | At least Mr Obama got one thing |
| | which now joins the illustrious list of | | | | right: the idea that educating people |
| | technologies to have been | | | | is the best way to enable them to |
| | denounced by politicians, and with | | | | adapt to technological change, and |
| | his grumbling about the crazy | | | | use it for good. But technology is not |
| | theories circulated by the | | | | an alternative to education and |
| | combination of blogs and talk radio. | | | | empowerment; it can, in fact, help |
| | But such Luddism¹ is particularly | | | | deliver them. America’s first web- |
| | curious in Mr Obama’s case, given | | | | savvy president should understand |
| | that he is surgically attached to his | | | | that. |
| | BlackBerry, his presidential campaign | | | | |
| | made exemplary use of the internet, | | | | The Economist, 2010 |
| | and he has used YouTube to great | | |
noot 1 Luddism: a Luddite is someone who does not like new technology and who tries to
avoid using it
