Barack Obama lamented Sunday that “with iPads and iPods,” information has become a distraction that is putting new pressures on the U.S.A. and “democracy.”
“‘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,’ Obama said at Hampton University, Virginia,” AFP reports. “‘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 said.”
MacDailyNews Note: During the 2008 election, KCAL-TV covered Candidate Obama’s advertisements placed inside eighteen of Microsoft’s Xbox video games:
Direct link via YouTube here.
AFP continues, “He bemoaned the fact that ‘some of the craziest claims can quickly claim traction,’ in the clamor of certain blogs and talk radio outlets. ‘All of this is not only putting new pressures on you, it is putting new pressures on our country and on our democracy… We can’t stop these changes… but we can adapt to them,’ Obama said, adding that US workers were in a battle with well-educated foreign workers. ‘Education… can fortify you, as it did earlier generations, to meet the tests of your own time,’ he said.”
Full article here.
Obama’s commencement address at Hampton University:
Direct link via YouTube here.
[Update: 2:08pm EDT. Pulled the Take because the point we were attempting to make seems to have been either too satirical or not satirical enough. Our fault, not yours. We blame the weekend help.]
[Update: 11:37pm EDT. Added link to 2008 report on Obama campaign’s ads in Xbox video games. Thanks to MacDailyNews readers too numerous to mention individually for the heads up.]
[Update: 11:59pm EDT. Added link to Obama’s commencement address at Hampton University. Thanks to MacDailyNews reader “Algr” for the heads up and the nice compliment.]
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “TowerTone” for the AFP article heads up.]
Oh really?? Well, sir.. you’ve forgotten devices that has been around for decades… RADIOs and TVs, far more “dangerous” than any iPod or iPad.
“Information is the currency of democracy.”– Thomas Jefferson
“ApplePi
I think you’re all missing the point. You know how writers bastardize Apple products and spout their opinions about falsehoods just to get ratings and hits.
American people in general are pretty freaking stupid and will believe anything as long as it’s in print, or for this matter online in an article.
The digital age is allowing for more anonymity and a lot less accountability for stupid actions. This is what he’s saying.
Basically, don’t believe everything you read.
Pi has spoken.”
And revealed yourself as the fool you so obviously are.
Hey, Chavez is looking for a few good men in Venezuela. Have a nice trip.
Folks, just try for a second to use a little discernment when you read something. Only people with an agenda take things literally and get their panties twisted into such a bundle. President Obama is not now or has he ever advocated limiting free speech. He’s just encouraging everyone – as he always has – to try and use speech a bit more intelligently and thoughtfully. Fat chance if these comments are any indication — including MDN’s ridiculous commentary. The hallmark of the right these days is to start with a ludicrous and biased pre-supposition “Obama is a Fascist, or a Socialist, or (god forbid) a Liberal!” – then take anything he says and read whatever one wants into it without using the least bit of subtlety in discerning what he is actually trying to say. The fact is Obama is an extreme moderate. The health care bill, which is supposedly his big socialist experiment, is actually mostly a Republican concoction made up of ideas originally proposed by Nixon, Dole, Grassley, McCain and others. Even the SOCIALIST MANDATE decried by conservatives was originally a Republican idea, proposed to counter the Clinton healthcare bill of the early 90’s. Read up on this people. Stop your ludicrous rants. This is exactly what President Obama is talking about. Not stopping free speech, but taking personal responsibility for questioning ones own use of free speech and asking whether it’s a worthwhile contribution or the equivalent of a brain fart on Facebook.
Obama has nothing to do with freedom or democracy.
I have seen right through who and what he is from the very start.
Obama is America’s first Marxist president.
on second thought i wonder if this post is meant to serve as an example of what Obama is saying: unless people actually read things for themselves then they can easily be manipulated.
MDN says to go read the full article where the full quote and the context clearly defuse any of the worries mentioned in their Take. Yet, as demonstrated by the comments here, few people read the full article and instead rely on the Take and end up with opinions radically divorced from the facts.
nice work MDN, very well crafted.
I don’t want censorship or a reining in of free speach. What I would like is for the media to start doing their job again. Investigate, fact-check and report. THEN facilitate discussion of opinion. The problem with the 24/7 news cycle as it is today is there’s no ability to keep issues in their proper perspective. The insignificant crackpot and superficial tangent gets as much attention and credibility as the truly important, world-changing fact.
When it comes to Obama, MDN is not in the least bit credible. When it comes to politics, the emperor here wears no clothes. Shame on you for blasting this headline without- as you say- not being sure if he’s being misquoted or what the context was.
Sickening. I really expected more from this site and people who are supposedly intelligent enough to be Mac users.
Grasping at straws to advance a political obsession. Maybe Obama pulled a Biden. Not once have a seen MDN comment on an evil, inflammatory, ignorant remark by Glenn beck, Sarah Palin, Bill jerkoff and that other Big Fat Idiot.
I wonder why… Obscenity is in the eye of the beholder. Take a good, good, look, MDN! Now take another!
@: chgodane
Yes he has. But that’s okay. Keep kissing his ass and saying what he wants to hear, you’ll do fine.
Obama is a Marxist and is intent on destroying the one lone free country in the world. He is a traitor and should be tried in a court of law and then hung.
Oh, shit. I’m writing this on an iPad – I must be WRONG!!!
Kruschev was so right – America has fallen and we did it to ourselves.
“Since when did this site become Fox Daily News”
Since Feb.09, or was it Nov.08? Can’t remember.
@ “Handsome” Smitty
Your post simply confirms Obama’s and my point. Thank you for that.
Obama is a Marxist and is intent on destroying the one lone free country in the world.
in virtue of what is the US the “one lone [sic] free country in the world”?
MDN and many commenters here just proved Obama’s point. In fact, even though the text of the article clarifies his intentions, the AFP article’s title invited sensationalism and distraction.
For those interested in the actual speech:
http://www.necn.com/05/09/10/President-delivers-Hampton-U-commencemen/landing_nation.html?blockID=231559&feedID=4207
I really hope MDN would avoid stepping in it with this political trolling. Being biased with respect to Apple and its products is part of MDN’s identity, and most MDN readers know that and accept it, if not truly enjoy it. Political affiliation is not an announced MDN trait. If this is kind of political opinion is something MDN wants to promote, perhaps a change in the web site’s title is called for. At least your readers would know what to expect.
If everyone was not indoctrinated and read the declaration of independence, the constitution and the federalist papers this clown traitor Obama would be impeached and subsequently jailed for treason.
The society being asleep lead to HIS OWN ELECTION, and then the emperor with no clothes lashes out at the mechanism of his own victory!? Unreal.
“We trust our readers’ abilities implicitly.”
Perhaps MDN was wrong to think so highly of their readership’s abilities.
Only mike k. (May 09, 10 – 01:42 pm) seems to have gotten it so far.
“The suggestion of any U.S President, regardless of party, who would call information a “distraction” or “diversion” makes us nervous. Perhaps, Obama misspoke or was misquoted or we’re misunderstanding what he meant. We hope any one of them is the case.”
You misunderstood. He was saying that there is so much out there to keep us busy, people giver far less attention to information and democracy than to their diversions. In that state, some of the worst lies can gain traction.
I swear, you right-wingers don’t wait for a Democrat to say something stupid. You wait for a Democrat to say *anything* so you can twist it into something it isn’t. Oh yeah, and MDN is a hit whore.
Based on his remarks, it’s tempting to put Obama in the same category with Microsoft, Adobe and Google – a peddler of low-quality crap and an advocate of ignorance – and say that Apple should treat him accordingly.
But what really matters is whether Rahm Emanuel can get Eric Holder shut down on his efforts to file an antitrust lawsuit against Apple. If Emanual can keep the attorney general under control, Obama can babble any nonsense he likes, and no worries for Apple. But if Holder goes after Apple, then Obama will earn the opprobrium of the Apple community.
MDN, this libertarian streak you’re going on is a little beyond the pale. Is this a site that covers Mac news and information, or is it a branch of FoxNews? I used to come here as a primary source of Mac news, but with your vitriolic rants — they were once devilishly clever, astute takes, but now they’re condescending and bitter — and your predictable, Pavlovian political screeds anytime the name Obama is mentioned, I’m nearing the point where I will be seeking information about the Macintosh elsewhere.
You should really think about toning it down. Yes you do have a right to your opinion, but a LOT of liberals use Macs and you kinda need us to view the ads that keep your site alive. Slanted takes like this are not going to endear us to the site.
“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.”
At least try to be fair.”
He can’t. He’s a Republican.
“My take on it is the same information network that helped destroy any chance for G.W. to succeed from day one “
Yeah, because Duhhhbya’s incompetence had nothing to do with it.
Come on, let’s go to three pages!
Next time I see Sarah Palin’s fscking face on this sight, I’m installing an ad blocker.
Leave it to the MDN Repulitard corps of commentors to not understand what he’s really trying to say here, and start trolling out their long line of Fox News talking points.
Drool on, dittoheads!
Nice hit whoring MDN! You guys are giving Dvorak a run for his money.
Sounds about par for this bunch. They really don’t think they have to explain thier actions, statements, etc. much less defend them.
I’m a douchebag!
“And revealed yourself as the fool you so obviously are.
Hey, Chavez is looking for a few good men in Venezuela. Have a nice trip.”
Usual right-wing closed thinking. Don’t agree with them? Must be a traitor.