President Obama Ditches His BlackBerry Phone: New Phone Still Can’t Access Android And iPhone Apps Including Twitter And Email
BlackBerry phones have undeniably faced their demise over the course of the past few years, however, the once-industry-leading manufacturer has managed to maintain one prominent user: President Barack Obama. While the rest of the world has moved away from BlackBerry, using much more modern smartphones from the likes of Apple and Samsung, for security reasons, the leader of the free world has continued to use a BlackBerry as his main handset.
According to my Broadband, speaking on The Tonight Show, President Obama revealed that he’s finally ditched his BlackBerry. The move comes amongst White House efforts to upgrade technology used by the executive branch of government.
Barack Obama has finally given up on his BlackBerry: https://t.co/SPHFCImgEu pic.twitter.com/ypbNMwi3bY
— PC Pro (@pcpro) June 13, 2016
Brack Obama, who was the first president to have a BlackBerry, spoke about his admiration for the device, but he also expressed concern that nobody was using BlackBerry’s technology anymore, and as such, it was time to move on, saying “and then, finally, this year, they said, good news Mr. President, they are going to give you a smartphone instead of the BlackBerry.” President Obama was undeniably excited about the news after seeing what his daughters and Michelle were able to do with their smartphones.
Obama didn’t detail whether or not his new smartphone was an Android device or Apple iPhone, however, that doesn’t make much difference considering he’s still unable to use many of the features enjoyed by regular users of such technology.
The president went on to speak about how the new device was severely limited for security reasons, saying, “It is a great phone, state-of-the-art, but it does not take pictures, you can’t text, the phone does not work, you can’t play your music on it.”
White house gets tech overhaul but @BarackObama uses a Blackberry. https://t.co/bBPdjflR6l#London #mobilesetup pic.twitter.com/ofYheBP6zF
— BreezeTech (@ContactBreeze) April 18, 2016
The Obama administration has focused many of their final efforts on leaving the White House in a better state than they found it when it comes to technology. With that in mind, a smartphone upgrade is likely to benefit the next president more than it will Barack Obama himself.
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According to ZDNet, technology has been at the heart of the Obama administration with the current president relying heavily on his BlackBerry smartphones. Obama has been photographed regularly with either his BlackBerry Curve 8300 or 8900, both of which have been designed for secure use by the NSA. However, Obama is believed to have an Apple iPad for personal use within the White House, suggesting that his new smartphone could very well be one modified from Apple’s current range of iPhone handsets.
Upon leaving the presidency, Barack Obama will undeniably be free to use a smartphone of his choice on a day-to-day basis, meaning that he’ll be able to take advantage of the features that regular smartphone users enjoy, which, given his comments, is something that Obama is definitely looking forward to.
In fact, it’s difficult to understand why the executive government has been reluctant to ditch BlackBerry technology. Both Android and iPhone devices are now able to offer the same level of encryption as devices from BlackBerry can do while also providing a good deal of modern functionality too. The White House is regularly seen to be somewhat archaic when it comes to technology choices, and that’s definitely shown through the fact that President Obama has been one of the few remaining BlackBerry users.
It now remains to be seen if the next president, whether that be Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump, makes further changes to the White House’s technology.
[Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images]
