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Friday, June 27, 2008

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McCain and the UMPC

- Warner Crocker

McainumpcThere’s nothing like making fun of politicians and their ridiculous comments about computing on “the Google” or “the Internets” or “a series of tubes.” At times it does make you wonder, and in fact, these days it is an easy target. But in this year’s US election, and the preceding primaries, some are paying more attention to the candidates computer savvy as they are making choices. Earlier this year, TechCrunch ran a Tech Presidential Primary seeking readers’ views on their choices for the next Tech President, and then made an endorsement in both the Republican and Democratic primaries. Intriguingly enough the TechCrunch endorsement picked the two candidates, John McCain and Barack Obama, who are now running in the general election.

Even so, John McCain has taken some hits for saying that he is “computer illiterate”, but in this CNN report slamming him for that (and politicians in general), there are a couple of shots of him trying out a TabletKiosk eo UMPC. Check it out.

So, here’s a question for you. How important is a candidate’s tech literacy for you in making your political choices? In answering this, let’s keep this high-minded here. We’re not interested in flame wars about one candidate or the other, but want to know if a candidate’s tech knowledge, or lack thereof, affects your choosing.

Thanks to Gail Levy for the link.



6/27/2008 5:45 AM MST  

McCain and the UMPC     Comments [8]  |  Digg This |  del.icio.us |  Citations 
Friday, June 27, 2008 6:04:38 AM (Mountain Daylight Time, UTC-06:00)
Given that technology will continue to be an important area in the US for economic growth, I don't insist that a politician be a techie, or even personally tech-savvy, but s/he:
- must not be technophobic,
- must have advisors who ARE tech-savvy/tech-literate and,
- must listen to those advisors.

Realistically, no single person can know everything. This is why good leaders listen to others and incorporate advice from others into their own decision-making.
Melissa
Friday, June 27, 2008 6:09:17 AM (Mountain Daylight Time, UTC-06:00)
I'm not as concerned about direct technical literacy as I am about how they view American business in general. It is my experience that if a politician is willing to help businesses succeed by not over-regulating their operations then they are a prime candidate for making policies that won't negatively impact things like technology and economic growth.
GoodThings2Life
Friday, June 27, 2008 7:20:02 AM (Mountain Daylight Time, UTC-06:00)
The key is the term "literacy" as opposed to "literate". The first refers to the ability to read, the second to being well read.

I want any candidate to have technological literacy. I expect them to be able to do basic things like sign on to networks, check email, and browse the net. The unfortunate fact is, there are still people in positions of power who can't. Where I work, we had to set up a special version of a portal because some senior managers could not figure out how to enter their userid and password to view management reports.

Beyond that, I would prefer a candidate who is technologically literate because information technology plays such a large role in the economy. But I don't see it as a requirement.
Dave P
Friday, June 27, 2008 7:53:04 AM (Mountain Daylight Time, UTC-06:00)
It's not the candidate's knowledge, but their understanding and appreciation of technology that affects my support for them, which shines through in how they do and describe things. I rank this very high, though it falls below character and intelligence, because technology is critically important to our future, yet we are steadily falling behind. With our ISP providers capping downloads to 50-300 GB per month, and an ISP in Japan contemplating an *upload* cap of 30 GB... per day(!), it's pretty clear we're nowhere near as technologically competitive as we should be.
Friday, June 27, 2008 10:46:24 AM (Mountain Daylight Time, UTC-06:00)
Actually, its a plus if they don't have a grasp on technology. After all, do you really want your President surfing the Internet in the Oval Office all day long? <not too highminded, sorry!>
Tom
Friday, June 27, 2008 11:17:43 AM (Mountain Daylight Time, UTC-06:00)
Actually I do want the president surfing the Web. One of the problems with being president is that advisers and even people you meet tend to tell you what you want to hear. A president who can escape the cocoon a bit by reading political sites will get a good reality check.

I don't think that a president needs to know much else about computers.
Friday, June 27, 2008 5:31:17 PM (Mountain Daylight Time, UTC-06:00)
I'm not American (so my vote does not count) but I would be very hesitant in voting for someone who had no idea, no enthusiasm, no interest in developing the technology that my kids will rely on in their lives. Actually I don't care if they know themselves as long as they are surrounded by people who do.

One of the major policies that led to the recent change in leaders here in Australia was to provide major investments in computers and technology in education.

Gordon
Friday, June 27, 2008 8:42:34 PM (Mountain Daylight Time, UTC-06:00)
I think the President should be smart enough to be able to turn on his own computer and at least logon to the internet.

I don't know if he needs to be able to setup up the White house computer system, but a basic understanding of modern tech is a neccessity in today's world.

Then he'll know if his advisors are BSing him or not.
SAM
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