Image via Complex Original
Intro
Before he stepped foot into The Oval Office, Barack Hussein Obama II showed and proved he was a techie. America's 44th president established a rapport with the Internet generation by utilizing CRM (customer relationship management) software and embracing every major social media outlet like Facebook and Twitter to push his campaign and connect with the youth. One term in, our nation's leader has resiliently pushed his commitment to evolving tech practices, chopped it up with the tech industry's best and brightest, and literally fought the government to keep his most prized possession: his BlackBerry. In celebration of President's Day, we look back at the Obama's dopest tech moments. They don't call him the most tech-savvy prez of all-time because he knows how to work an iPad. Check out President Obama's Coolest Tech Moments. Tweet that, Tweet that.
Beast
Obama Rolls Up In "The Beast" At Inauguration
Date: Jan. 20, 2009
During the primaries and soon after his presidential win over McCain, Obama became the target of several assassination scares and death threats from white supremacists. So to avoid being JFK'd at his own inauguration, the secret service gave America's 44th president the 50 Cent-treatment and equipped him with a monstrous bulletproof Cadillac limo nicknamed "The Beast". The armor-plated stretch sedan is laced with a titanium, ceramic, steel, and aluminum finish, plus it's equipped with tear gas cannons, steel wheels, Kevlar-reinforced run-flat tires, and an enhanced fire-fighting system. Obama's whip became such a huge commodity among high-powered figures that American Idol sire, Simon Cowell, immediately requested one.
CrackBerry
The CrackBerry Chronicles
Date: Jan. 22, 2009
Nearly a week after winning the presidency, the NSA (National Security Agency) lobbied against Obama's personal use of his BlackBerry due to legal and security concerns. But Barry proved that no one, especially the government, could get in between him and his CrackBerry. In an interview with the New York Times and CNBC, Obama told reporters “I'm still clinging to my BlackBerry…They're going to pry it out of my hands,” then showed adamancy telling CNN, "I think we're going to be able to hang onto one of these…I want to be able to have voices, other than the people who are immediately working for me, be able to reach out and … send me a message about what's happening in America." A "compromise" was reached and he received a super-secure BlackBerry with top-secret specs. Fight the power.
The Royal iPod
The Obama's Give The Queen The Royal iPod
Date: April 1, 2009
Leave it to Obama to charm a woman of sovereignty by giving her one of the most prized media gadgets on the planet. After giving England Prime Minster Gordon Brown a box set of 25 American-region DVDs that didn't work on British players, the big homie redeemed himself during a visit to Buckingham Palace, where he and wife Michelle presented the Queen with an iPod loaded with pictures and videos of her 2007 visit to the States. Kudos. But unbeknownst to the Obamas, her majesty already owned a 6GB silver iPod Mini that was recommended by Prince Andrew. All in all, the Queen was said to be "delighted" with her gift and supposedly told the couple she "finally has something to listen to [her] Pantera records on" during tea time. Cheers!
Tweeting for Haiti
Tweeting For Haiti
Date: Jan. 18, 2010
The Twitterverse had a conniption after learning an unnamed staffer was responsible for posting Obama's “first-ever” tweet wherein the President said he was “Humbled” after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009. But the Commander-in-Chief made his first official tweet a special one, jumping on the Red Cross' Twitter account in support of the Haiti earthquake relief effort and tweeting in third person: “President Obama and the First Lady are here visiting our disaster operation center right now.” His digital co-sign helped draw more financial contributions and increased the non-profit organization's Twitter followers. Obama's become a devoted tweeter ever since and has used his account to share special announcements with his 8,896,000+ followers, second behind Lady Gaga.
Healthcare.gov
HealthCare.Gov Tech Demo
Date: July 28, 2010
Video: Click here to watch
Our leader outdid himself with his viral campaign to promote healthcare reform and technology by participating in a tech demo for the health consumer website: HealthCare.Gov. The three-minute video shows Barack giving a step-by-step tutorial on his MacBook, showing Americans how to choose their own health coverage while trying to explain how the Affordable Care Act is a win-win for everyone: "[Healthcare.gov] is a good resource for understanding the new law, and it offers a few simple tools to help you take your healthcare into your own hands…For the first time ever, you can see all your insurance options—public and private—in one place."
Communication and Video Accessiblity Act
Obama Enacts The Communication and Video Accessibility Act
Date: Oct. 8, 2010
While we've made the great strides in the advancement of consumer technology, the impaired struggle to earn their fair share. Obama took heed of his “change” principals and created the 21st Century Communication and Video Accessibility Act—a law that "will make it easier for people who are deaf, blind or live with a visual impairment to do what many of us take for granted," he says. The legislation puts pressure on tech manufacturers to offer intuitive enhancements such as video closed captioning, plus Internet and e-mail accessibility for the visually handicapped. It also pushes for smartphone manufacturers to implement more robust UIs, therefore making the law a benefit for both disabled and enabled patrons. Salute that man.
People's iPad
Obama Digitally Signs iPad
Date: Oct. 22, 2010
Video: Click here to watch
Most people run up on celebrities and request autographs on their notepads, photographs, and in some cases, their private (Breasts people...breasts). But Obama follower Sylvester Cann IV took it a step further and patiently presented our leader with his iPad, which he scribbled, “Mr. President, sign my iPad,” along with a signature line using Adobe's Ideas app. Obama's secret service goons looked on suspiciously as he used his finger to sign his John Hancock on the Apple touchscreen. One month later at a NATO summit in Lisbon, Portugal, Obama ran into another iPad-wielding fanatic who asked for an autograph, to which he responded "I've done this once before." What can we say? Dude's a trendsetter.
Mythbusters
The Mythbusters Archimedes Death Ray Challenge
Date: Dec. 8, 2010
Video: Click here to watch
Haters (and Republicans) bash Obama for his celebrity-like status and claim he spends more time on television than behind the desk. That's debatable. Still, whether he's discussing his wife's iPod catalog on The View or filling in his yearly NCAA Basketball brackets on SportsCenter, like a bad VH1 reality show, we're tuned in. And we found his guest appearance on the Discovery Channel's Mythbusters, where he challenged the show's hosts to reexamine the Archimedes Death Ray myth by using mirrors to set fire to a boat in the San Francisco Bay with the help of 500 students, to beone of his more memorable TV tech moments. Sure the experiment was a failure, but how many presidents you know that would take that challenge? Thought so.
Web 2.0
Obama Goes Web 2.0
Date: Jan. 25, 2011
In the era of YouTube and Netflix, TV has become overrated. Since his first televised speech back in 2009, Obama experienced a viewership decline of nearly 18 percent. So in an attempt to bank on the social media phenomena and draw more gawkers, the White House announced it would televise this year's State of the Union Address as well as live-stream it using Web 2.0 technology. During the event, web users gained access to analytical charts and statistics, which referenced key points in the president's speech. But that wasn't the kick. Obama later in the week jumped on YouTube for a 45-minute Q&A session to answer predetermined questions chosen via fan-voting system, while other officials attended to users queries on the White House's website forum, Facebook, and Twitter (under the hashtag #sotu). Nice.
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley Dinner
Date: Feb. 17, 2011
If anyone has the pull to put Silicon Valley's primetime players in a room for a peaceful dinner without hurling flash drives or potato salad at each other, it's the President. The private affair took place not at the White House, but at venture capitalist John Doerr's home in California, which consisted of tech bigwigs such as Steve Jobs (Apple), Larry Ellison (Oracle), Reed Hastings (Netflix), John Chambers (Cisco), Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), and others. The meeting was so secretive that even Twitter CEO, Dick Costolo, couldn't receive or send tweets, as he tweeted to curious Twitter employee Jessica Verrilli afterwards: “@jess sadly no. i was in a part of the bay area where the tweets cant get in or out!" Gangsters move, and eat, in silence.
Shots Fired
Shots Fired At Government & Oval Office Technology
Date: April 15, 2011
One would think if anyone in the nation would have access to the most high-tech and modernized equipment out there, it would be our commander-in-chief. Apparently that's not case. And Obama had no problems voicing his frustrations with the White House's obsolete technology during a fundraising event in Chicago stating, "When it comes to technology, we are like 30 years behind." Though his Q&A session had been transmitted back to Washington and into the press briefing room by mistake, he continued to talk about his disappointment with the government's lack of telecommunications and gadgetry: “The Oval Office, I always thought I was going to have really cool phones and stuff...I'm like, c'mon guys, I'm the president of the United States. Where's the fancy buttons and stuff and the big screen comes up?” Hey, he's just calling it like he sees it.
The First Head Of State To Tour Facebook HQs
Date: April 20, 2011
Stepping foot into Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif. is nearly the equivalence of entering the Oval Office. OK, not really—or at all—but considering its popularity and highly-classified environment, some geeks might agree. So when creator Mark Zuckerberg invited the president to partake in an online Q&A broadcasted live among 500 million+ users—not only did he engrave Obama's name in the Social Media Hall of Fame—he also made him the first head of state to ever tour the networking digs. Note: Twenty-one million fans will earn you that. The president shared words of wisdom with today's social- and tech-heavy citizens and kept it real with his revolutionary dictation: "If you don't give the system a push, it's just not going to change. And you're going to be the ones who suffer the consequences." Take it from a man who knows a thing or two about change.
SOPA
Obama Doesn't Back SOPA
Date: January 15, 2012
While the Internet community—companies and consumers—came together last month to fight the Stop Online Piracy Act, the world patiently waited for President Obama to give his stance on the controversial bill. That day came on January 15 when the Obama Administration took to its blog and delivered a vague address in which it said it would not support any bill that "reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet." It wasn't a complete repudiation, nor was it an endorsement. The Administration said it believed the copyright holders and Internet companies needed to sit down and figure out a solution. We'll take that as a win.
Spotify
Obama Makes a Spotify Playlist
Date: February 9, 2012
Before he kicked off his 2012 campaign for re-election, President Obama decided to make a soundtrack for his bid. To do so, he went to everyone's new favorite music service, Spotify. The list included a good mixture of soul and pop, while throwing in some “cool” indie rock. Our only gripe is that Mr. President did not include any rap songs. Not even Jay-Z's “Empire State of Mind”. We don't know what to say, or how to take the culture snub, but it's cool to see Obama once again putting himself on the forefront of social technology. Catch up, Romney!