...
"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"
--Barack Obama, President of the United States of America, May 9, 2010
How kind of the leader of The Free World to offer up fodder for the blogosphere! May I offer up a quote in response?
"'Bull dinky.' Perry Cox. Six one; about a buck eighty-five after lunch."
--Dr. Cox to Nurse Laverne Roberts, Scrubs, Season Six Episode 14, "My No Good Reason"
It's not that President Obama is entirely incorrect - Lord knows, there's plenty of people walking God's green earth, using their iPods / iPads for diversionary purposes and not as a form of augmented reality. Those that are seeking information aren't necessarily doing it for enriching purposes - I'm certainly guilty of the occasional internet sojourn to the Thirty Mile Zone to see which celebrity has entered that super-dee-duper part of life that I've affectionately dubbed 'Trainwrecksburg' (fifteen miles off the interstate, hang a left at the McDonalds). And let's be honest, here - living in the age of instant information gratification certainly has its perils: how much does one trust the user-defined output that is so freely vomited into cyberspace? The authenticity absolutely runs the gamut from "On Par With Your Local News" to "Use At Your Own Risk" - in other words, not much more reliable than what you can watch on TV but accessible much sooner and in greater quantity.
That he mentions the Playstation (presumably PS3 but, given his admission of being technologically impaired, it may as well be the original PSX) and X-Box but conspicuously leaves out the Wii gives a hint to his preferences on the console war, but that's neither here nor there. What's important is that, once again, someone is casting out an opinion on something that they, themselves, have no real emotional investment in. They're detachedly riffing on something without any real concern for response. Like The Critic before him, Obama appears to be acting as if he were a diplomat from some other country where these damnable devices are held in the highest contempt; he marches, bravely, into our strange new world, flag in hand, and upon reaching a microphone and audience, he jams the flag into terra firma and screeches, at the top of his lungs: "I DON'T GET YOUR STUPID TOYS AND IF I DON'T GET THEM, YOU SHOULDN'T LIKE THEM EITHER."
Just as this guy did...
And this gal...
And I'm sure there are plenty of others. But at any rate...
It would be great if, truly, all information digested created empowerment. But the mess that Obama is attempting to mop up isn't technology-centric - it's people-centric. It's society-centric. He is the leader of a very ambivalent nation. We want our change but we don't want to wait for it. We want America back on track but we don't want to agree with decisions being made that sound more detrimental than beneficial. And we want our information and technology but we don't necessarily always want to do anything worthwhile with it. Ponder this clip from The Boondocks. Though the verbiage may be inflammatory, his point remains poignant; his observations, astute.
No, Barack - it's actually quite like the Gun Argument. A gun, by itself and in general circumstances, is incapable of harming anyone or anything. A person, armed with said gun, is another story. The problem is the *people*. And unfortunately, you can't go around, accusing the people who voted for you of being irresponsible know-nothings who play with their toys too much. But you can swing an accusatory finger at technology. Everyone else does.
And so the lyrics change; but the song, it stays the same.
--Barack Obama, President of the United States of America, May 9, 2010
How kind of the leader of The Free World to offer up fodder for the blogosphere! May I offer up a quote in response?
"'Bull dinky.' Perry Cox. Six one; about a buck eighty-five after lunch."
--Dr. Cox to Nurse Laverne Roberts, Scrubs, Season Six Episode 14, "My No Good Reason"
It's not that President Obama is entirely incorrect - Lord knows, there's plenty of people walking God's green earth, using their iPods / iPads for diversionary purposes and not as a form of augmented reality. Those that are seeking information aren't necessarily doing it for enriching purposes - I'm certainly guilty of the occasional internet sojourn to the Thirty Mile Zone to see which celebrity has entered that super-dee-duper part of life that I've affectionately dubbed 'Trainwrecksburg' (fifteen miles off the interstate, hang a left at the McDonalds). And let's be honest, here - living in the age of instant information gratification certainly has its perils: how much does one trust the user-defined output that is so freely vomited into cyberspace? The authenticity absolutely runs the gamut from "On Par With Your Local News" to "Use At Your Own Risk" - in other words, not much more reliable than what you can watch on TV but accessible much sooner and in greater quantity.
That he mentions the Playstation (presumably PS3 but, given his admission of being technologically impaired, it may as well be the original PSX) and X-Box but conspicuously leaves out the Wii gives a hint to his preferences on the console war, but that's neither here nor there. What's important is that, once again, someone is casting out an opinion on something that they, themselves, have no real emotional investment in. They're detachedly riffing on something without any real concern for response. Like The Critic before him, Obama appears to be acting as if he were a diplomat from some other country where these damnable devices are held in the highest contempt; he marches, bravely, into our strange new world, flag in hand, and upon reaching a microphone and audience, he jams the flag into terra firma and screeches, at the top of his lungs: "I DON'T GET YOUR STUPID TOYS AND IF I DON'T GET THEM, YOU SHOULDN'T LIKE THEM EITHER."
Just as this guy did...
And this gal...
And I'm sure there are plenty of others. But at any rate...
It would be great if, truly, all information digested created empowerment. But the mess that Obama is attempting to mop up isn't technology-centric - it's people-centric. It's society-centric. He is the leader of a very ambivalent nation. We want our change but we don't want to wait for it. We want America back on track but we don't want to agree with decisions being made that sound more detrimental than beneficial. And we want our information and technology but we don't necessarily always want to do anything worthwhile with it. Ponder this clip from The Boondocks. Though the verbiage may be inflammatory, his point remains poignant; his observations, astute.
No, Barack - it's actually quite like the Gun Argument. A gun, by itself and in general circumstances, is incapable of harming anyone or anything. A person, armed with said gun, is another story. The problem is the *people*. And unfortunately, you can't go around, accusing the people who voted for you of being irresponsible know-nothings who play with their toys too much. But you can swing an accusatory finger at technology. Everyone else does.
And so the lyrics change; but the song, it stays the same.