BlackBerry-carrying president Obama warned graduates that well technology can be overwhelming and puts pressure on teens, country 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 that high on the truth meter,” President Obama told graduating senoirs Hampton University’s commencement.
“And with iPods and iPads and Xboxes and PlayStations - none of which
I know how to work - (laughter) - information becomes a distraction, a
diversion, a form of entertainment, rather than a tool of empowerment,
rather than the means of emancipation. So all of this is not only
putting pressure on you; it’s putting new pressure on our country and on
our democracy,” he said.
But there is the audacity of hope from BarackBerry,”We can’t stop
these changes, but we can channel them, we can shape
them, we can adapt to them. And education is what can allow us to do
so. It can fortify you, as it did earlier generations, to meet the tests
of your own time.”
In other words he’s i-prodding youth to take
on technology with new verve and education. You don’t always have to
believe what’s on your iPad or iPhone.
There were over one million
iPads sold in the
first month of availability. Obama had his own iPhone app. An iPad
owner lost his part of his finger when someone stole
his iPad. He refused
to give up his BlackBerry when he became president.