[phonejunky]

heres the CNN link of Obama calls the iPod technology and things of this nature a distraction to learning. Obama can't work an iPod. Really? � SciTechBlog - CNN.com Blogs

"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,"

I'm guessing our presidents loves that dull UI cause he can't be distracted by a nice screen and tempting apps

"I'm still clinging to my BlackBerry," he said, according to an online transcript. "They're going to pry it out of my hands."

News Headlines

. lol (which is a good thing in his situation). I wonder how he feels about OpenGL hahaha.

[John Yester]

There will be +'s and -'s to any new technology.. I can see good stuff in school with these new improvements over computers in the class room. But I can also see how they will work great in hospitals!

But what a lot of kids now days are never going to experience it "True Print"

[phonejunky]

very very true, "pinmenship" is out the door for our future generations.

[John Yester]

Also the world of "Art" is long gone.... Which is truly a shame for most of the greatest artist out there... Their names are forgotten...

[pkcable]

But opening a NEW world of digital art. It's incredible what is being done these days with computers and art and music.

[phonejunky]

Apparently, so is basic spelling: Penmanship

hahahahahaha burn

[amazinglygraceless]

hahahahahaha burn

You know I love you brother, but you also know I just had to

A less jaded article: AFP: Obama bemoans 'diversions' of IPod, Xbox era

The fundemantal point was that news and information in this day and age has
been reduced to entertainment and that will not serve this nation well going forward.

"What Jefferson recognized... that in the long run, their improbable experiment -- called America -- wouldn't work if its citizens were uninformed, if its citizens were apathetic, if its citizens checked out, and left democracy to those who didn't have the best interests of all the people at heart.

"It could only work if each of us stayed informed and engaged, if we held our government accountable, if we fulfilled the obligations of citizenship."

I wholeheartedly agree and don't see it as a slam against any particular
technology.

[phonejunky]

You know I love you brother, but you also know I just had to

A less jaded article: AFP: Obama bemoans 'diversions' of IPod, Xbox era

The fundemantal point was that news and information in this day and age has
been reduced to entertainment and that will not serve this nation well going forward.



I wholeheartedly agree and don't see it as a slam against any particular
technology.

Love me hahahaha, thats almost impossible ask my wife, i was born to be an a-hole .

I do agree understand what you quoted though, but i also in a way think Obama did slam Apple (in a way) by calling their product among others a distraction to learning.

[pkcable]

I was gonna make a grammar police joke, now I'm glad a didn't since the OP had such a good attitude about it. Good discussion either way. Definitely food for thought.

[phonejunky]

I have a sense of humor generally aimed towards ripping on fanboys though.

[amazinglygraceless]

but i also in a way think Obama did slam Apple (in a way) by calling their product among others a distraction to learning.

See, I don't because there are some words that have worked their way into the
vernacular just by virtue of popularity. For instance:

Rival is the ONLY maker of the Crock Pot - everything else is a slow cooker
Do you say Q-Tip or cotton swab?
Vaseline or petroleum jelly?
Band-Aid or adhesive bandage?
... and on and on

[JoeMD]

I liked the entitled link this morning on the Drudge Report regarding Obama:

BUT HOOKED ON CRACKBERRY...



Best,
BTB

[amazinglygraceless]

I was gonna make a grammar police joke, now I'm glad a didn't since the OP had such a good attitude about it.

PK, if it wasn't Brandon I wouldn't have. I've interacted with him enough to
know he would be chuckling when he read it.

[xgm541]

it is a conspiracy by apple. They are trying to brain wash us with their "i" series of products. Steve Jobs will take over the world.

[stilett0s]

Stuff like the iPad and Xbox are making people dumber and lazier.

[berryfit]

I get what he's saying. What I don't get is why technology is blamed.

This stuff is great...for fun, for a tool, to make us communicate better.

The problem is, it shouldn't be used at school, or phones used to check facebook during a meeting, or someone not listening in a conversation, but checking their email when someone is talking.

Its not just kids...but, with kids, we don't give them boundries of any kind..sorry..we don't.

Im all for NO IPODS in School...NO PHONES in School.

It's not making them smarter, its making them learn they can do what they want without any consequences. WE'll pay that in the future.

Parents and teachers need to be the boss again ,not the kids. Being a kid is practice and learning to become an adult...they don't make the rules...we do...then when they're older, if they want to change the rules, they can...with their own informed and EDUCATED opinions.

[wanderer82680]

I get what he's saying. What I don't get is why technology is blamed.

This stuff is great...for fun, for a tool, to make us communicate better.

The problem is, it shouldn't be used at school, or phones used to check facebook during a meeting, or someone not listening in a conversation, but checking their email when someone is talking.

Its not just kids...but, with kids, we don't give them boundries of any kind..sorry..we don't.

Im all for NO IPODS in School...NO PHONES in School.

It's not making them smarter, its making them learn they can do what they want without any consequences. WE'll pay that in the future.

Parents and teachers need to be the boss again ,not the kids. Being a kid is practice and learning to become an adult...they don't make the rules...we do...then when they're older, if they want to change the rules, they can...with their own informed and EDUCATED opinions.

As a High School Math Teacher I 100% agree with you. I amount of time lost due to cell phones in the classroom is crazy. Cell phones are one of the biggest issues in schools today. Students' text message constantly, parents do nothing about it, and school are left powerless to contain the problem by parents that allow their students to abuse policies and not holding them responsible.

[stuaw11]

Any electronic device can be distracting, ipod etc or not. Is texting on a BB not just as distracting as a game on an ipod? Same difference pulling attention away from reality. I have an iphone and have all but 2 games on it which Ive played a total of maybe 2 hours in almost a year.

Technology though can also help people learn by giving them instant access to knowledge on the web if its used right. I look up things on Google a ton, look up court addresses and other attorney for work, research cases, look up statutes, etc etc. Itd be a lot harder to do the job without tech.

There are plusses and minuses to cell phones/tech, but it has nothing to do with iproducts or games per say.

[pilsbury]

Doesnt he have better things to do than comment on the Ipod? This is funny because during his campaign, he made references to having all of Michael Jackson's music on his Ipod. Hmmmm, which is it?

[naturalbeauty334]

Where are these schools that allow cell phones during class time? At my son's school, cell phone can only be used before and after school. If the cell phone is seen by an adminstrator of the school, the child is given a warning after that the phone is taken until they are in contact with the parent/guardian... The school gives out this information the first day of school and you do not agree; then you can send your child to another school and by the way it is a public school!

[naturalbeauty334]

I agree with the President. Ipod should not be at school. I do not allow my child to take his ipod to school.

[Cyrilmak]

But opening a NEW world of digital art. It's incredible what is being done these days with computers and art and music.

I agree. .

[Skeevecr]

I just don't understand this weird kind of pride that many people regardless of their intelligence take in not knowing how to work some random gadget, not knowing stuff is not a good thing.

As far as the devices listed, I can see why you would complain about some of those other devices, but I have always found that I work better when listening to music since it is a more predictable interruption and thus a lot easier to ignore than general background noise.

[wanderer82680]

Where are these schools that allow cell phones during class time? At my son's school, cell phone can only be used before and after school. If the cell phone is seen by an adminstrator of the school, the child is given a warning after that the phone is taken until they are in contact with the parent/guardian... The school gives out this information the first day of school and you do not agree; then you can send your child to another school and by the way it is a public school!

It has nothing to do with them being allowed at school. It is a fact that phones will get used at school not matter what rules are in place. Last year we kept the phone for the entire school year, we had a box full of phones within weeks. The kids didn't stop using them. In fact MANY parents simply purchased them new phones or reported them stolen so their kids could get them back. Cell phones are a distraction during school simply because they are allowed in schools. My personal opinion is cell phone signal should be block at schools. There is not one educational thing students are doing with their cell phones during class ... period. If parents need to get in touch with their kids they can call the office, it worked for years and it still works.

[travelingfool]

"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."

In defense of the President, I don't believe that he was singling out iPod's in particular, but was talking more about mp3 players in general, gaming consoles, etc. I think iPod has become such a household word, that it is commonly used as a general term for mp3 players, like Kleenex is for facial tissue.

I agree wholeheartedly with his premise here. I have seen it in my children. Sure, they use technology to aid in learning, but especially with my youngest boy (15 years old); he has grown to rely so heavily on his gadgets (iPod, cellphone, X-Box, PS3, PSP, Wii, DS, and the list goes on and on), that I think if we lost electricity and internet for a week he would stare blankly at the wall as if he just had a frontal lobotomy, lol.

There is one phrase in the quote above that is a bit confusing, though. I understand, "tool of empowerment," but, "means of emancipation?" Seriously? I have never considered technology as a modicum by which we can advance personal or civil freedom. Why is he using this term? Certainly not to elicit our emotions by invoking images of the Emancipation Proclamation. I just find that part to be odd.

This quote is a bit disturbing as well:

"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 all that high on the truth meter."

Yikes. He has displayed a growing penchant for irritation with dissenting opinion, so much so that he frequently calls them out by name. Statements like this, combined with his love for the "Fairness Doctrine," (which is oxymoronic, as it is anything but fair), are beginning to concern me.

Anyhow, I don't think we can jump down his throat because he bemoans gadgets like iPods. I don't, however, believe for a minute that he doesn't know how to use one. Not him, anyway. I think that was for show; perhaps to portray himself as older than he really is. If the previous President would have said it, it would be much more believable. You know, the President who thought that "misunderestimated" was a word.