In Time Magazine’s July 19 issue, on page 31, John Kerry is seen using an Apple PowerBook (15″ TiBook, it looks like). The photo, taken by Diana Walker, is captioned “From his study in the family’s Pittsburgh, PA, home, Kerry phones Edwards to officially invite the North Carolina Senator to be his running mate.” This comes on the heels of the report, “Vice President Dick Cheney a confirmed Apple iPod user” and, of course we all know that, at least back in 1998 when the photo of Bush was snapped, President Bush uses a PowerBook, too. That just leaves V.P. candidate John Edwards’ choice of platform in question.
MacDailyNews Take: You’d think that with Apple CEO Steve Jobs advising John Kerry and with Al Gore on Apple’s Board of Directors, Steve could figure out a way to get Kerry a new 17″ PowerBook – at least for photo ops.
Update: Updated PowerBook model speculation as per Seahawk’s post below.
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Conservative Mac users miffed at Apple’s Jimmy Carter page – October 14, 2002
The Mac is Bush to Windows’ Clinton – October 25, 2002
Bush-Cheney ’04 Re-election website adds QuickTime multimedia choice – April 27, 2004
That cannot be a 17″ model: never had ports on the back, hence it is a TiBook.
Uhmm, both candidates use Powerbooks. Who to vote now? Here goes a major selection factor.
More importantly is the fact that Lance Armstrong travels with and loves his iPod!
Thank God Kerry is an Mac User. I was worried there for a while cuz there is no way I could vote for Bush even if he is an Mac User and of course I think it would be better if our President was an Mac User. If not for any other reason then just because using a PC would probably make him cranky and you don’t want the guy with the button being any more cranky than he has to.
Bush is using the old Pismo Powerbook and Kerry is using the new 17″ Powerbook. I think Miss Tereza Heinz used her billions to buy Kerry that 17 incher. While Bush….I guess already spent his money on his Daughters and got them Powerbooks with iPods. So, he still has the old one for now. (All the above after the first sentence is purely speculation)
Damn Bush it’s time to upgrade! Is that a g3 powerbook?! That must be 4+ years old by now.
WHOT GIVES A F**K!
That’s great that it’s now confirmed, but there is still no way I could vote for Kerry even if he is a Mac User. Maybe since Steve Jobs is helping with the campaign, he “donated” the PowerBook to Kerry. Or maybe it came for Al Gore. haha Well, a 15″ PowerBook makes for a nice “campaign contribution” I’d say. ; )
My understanding previously was that Kerry did not use a computer. Would the dems stage a photo to get some crossover mac votes? Naw………………..
If he’s such a big Mac user, why didn’t Kerry speak up last year during the televised debate? When the question was posed then, only Al Sharpton said he used a Mac. I guess once Steve Jobs endorsed him, Kerry figured he had better go buy one pretty quick so Jobs and Al Gore wouldn’t get pissed at him.
I won’t vote for either Bush or Kerry…no matter what computer they use
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400,000 and he’s using OS 9… woof
hey, this is WAY more relevant than the stupid ‘angelina jolie gets a tattoo of a tiger’ story!
this actually has to do with apple..
if he’s using OS9, then he’s an old school mac user
the bush photo was taken in ’98, so he may have switched to the dark side before he took office. This would be why he killed the Microsoft anti-trust case. Or maybe he was pressured into doing that by Dick.
So, this proves that Mac is used among a wide spectrum of people.. from the smart ones to the dumb ones.
What a dick that Dick
Give me a break, Bush had nothing to do with the M$ anti-trust case being killed. Since when has the executive branch had any control over the judicial branch anyway? The judicial branch does whatever the hell it feels like because they answer to no one including the voters. Everybody knows that.
Just because some staffer put an old pismo behind Bush for a publicity shot of him “working” doesn’t mean he’s a Mac user. Notice that NOTHING is active on the screen? Really using it there, sport.
No, Dubya doesn’t use any computer at all. That’s the reality.
apparently kerry has mo’ money than dubya…
baawahhahhahahhaahhaha
moo.
Obviously Mac users are everywhere and fall on both sides of the political spectrum. Much to the chagrin of some (including Steve Jobs apparently as well) it isn’t just liberals that own and use Macs and iPods despite what some people may think or wish.
“Give me a break, Bush had nothing to do with the M$ anti-trust case being killed. Since when has the executive branch had any control over the judicial branch anyway? The judicial branch does whatever the hell it feels like because they answer to no one including the voters. Everybody knows that.” -RL
The Judicial Branch? The Attorney General (who is in charge of proscuting such cases) is appointed by the President. Please head back to Federal Government 101 – or just do a Google search. Geez.
Oh, so you can see what’s “active” on the screen of Kerry’s PB there in that photo huh A-Bomb? What a weak excuse of a post just to bash on Bush. Give it a rest dude…
Kerry: “I was using Windows before using a Mac” in an attempt to explain why he is now using Windows again.
Gotta love MDN. At least they show both sides of the Mac political issue and aren’t afraid to post it on this site. If you were to look at Apple as a company you’d think only Democrats ever used Macs. Having Al Gore on the Board, posting Jimmy Carter on the front page of their website and in their Think Different campaign, not allowing anyone with a conservative philosophy to ever advertise for them (but allowing someone like Howard Stern to though), etc., etc. Sorry to burst your bubble, but it’s not just liberals and Democrats that use Macs. At least MDN recognizes that, too bad Apple won’t.
I’ve seen more recent photos of Bush using one of the newer PowerBooks. As noted by someone else above, this was an old photo, so it seems he’s been using it a while and insisted the WH IT folks deal with it.
Guys, how about giving the politics a rest and taking satisfaction that BOTH major party candidates use Macs!
Real Mac fans should be thrilled.
Lance,
At least Kerry is facing the frickin’ laptop. The Bush photo is so obiously a set-up that it’s ridiculous. And as to Mac User‘s suggestion that there are photos of Dubya using a newer PowerBook, how about producing them.
Dubya is a chimp.. er, I mean chump. Sorry that the truth hurts.