Keep the BlackBerry!

Barak Obama shouldn't fold and give up his BlackBerry - the iconic symbol of connectivity... unless he gets an i-phone or BlackBerry Storm for Christmas. 

How can a modern leader function without a sure-fire, unvarnished, direct connection to the real world? There's nothing better for reaching out anytime, anywhere  to anyone than the ubiquitous mobile device.

Without that connection senior executives are destined to live in their own real world: where no one likes to be the contrarian in the room,  no one wants to be the messenger carrying bad news, and no one  likes to tell the emperer he forgot his clothes. Even if he's a really nice guy and doesn't lose his cool.

Can't we trust him not to disclose any top-secret stuff?  And if he were to slip up, wouldn't encryption be a less-drastic solution?

Mr. Obama is a role model for other execs not only for his use of technology but as a working parent. Without a BlackBerry, how will his kids be able to text him during an important meeting?

Perhaps the new president can promise not to disclose the details of his daily life on Twitter, or to post impromptu photos from the Oval Office or Air Force One on YouTube.

Comments

[John Doughtry]

I fear that Obama will fold to pressures to dump his Blackberry. There is no logical reason why he should be forced to give up communications. We have encrypted cell phone communications; why not for Blackberry technology? The cost of establishing a White House Blackberry server and protected and filtered gateway is not that difficult. It's no more complex than establishing a secure Microsoft Exchange server. Add the necessary encryption, gateway isolation, firewall protection, intrusion detection, etc. Cost for the entire system, hardware included, wouldn't exceed $150K -- and that's with utilizing the top-of-the-line *everything*.

[Anne Pauker Kreitzberg]

Great piece, Sheryl! Thanks for the link -

Anne

[Sheryl]

Wonder how President-elect Obama will deal with the unpleasant withdrawal symptoms from his CrackBerry addiction? Read a tongue-in-cheek fantasy letter to the President-elect on how to cope (from one addict to another) at http://www.justmypointofview.wordpress.com.