Quote:
"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,"
Obama also lamented the spread of social media and blogs, through which "some of the craziest claims can quickly claim traction."
Sounds reasonable to me. As I watched fellow students rush from Pokemon, to Digimon, to Playstations, to Gameboys, to Xboxes, and dozens of derivative products, each with countless sequels in their legion, I often wondered why they bothered, given none lasted long in the face of technology improvement, and they were all expensive fads. I think Obama is on the verge of an important point - you don't need these things to live.
The original article quotes:
Quote:
Obama came close to declaring technology -- and the information it spawns -- the enemy.
"With so many voices clamoring for attention on blogs, on cable, on talk radio, it can be difficult, at times, to sift through it all; to know what to believe; to figure out who's telling the truth and who's not," Obama said.
I think that that is sensationalism, and that what Obama says there is true, although he may have pushed the point a little far.
His comments on social media are certainly true.
To quote a user on the original New York Post article:
Quote:
"Obama declares war on technology..." - REALLY? This seems like a fair and balanced report of the commencement address? At best, that is a obviously prejudiced and politically-spinned interpretation of Obama' message. At worst, it is blatant misrepresentation.
Clearly, Obama was making a statement that we, as a society, need to be aware of the impact that these new technologies have on us, in particular the affect of instantaneous exposure of non-qualified information when it reaches levels of absolute saturation - information overload, if you will.
The point, if you read the actual transcript of the President's speech, was that we, as individuals, need to use judgment to filter and qualify the information we consume. And the best way to be able to make those sound judgments is to be an educated individual. The article did make that point, albeit buried under the way over the top headline and lead... disappointing coverage, and indeed part of the problem but typical for Fox News, NY Post et al, and part of the reason why I typically choose to filter these "news" sources.
In fact, trust Fox to go and report on such a fantastically accurate news entry in such a fantastically accurate way anyway.
