Obama’s Supermarket Scanner Moment
Tech-challenged Obama has trouble with iPhone:
On the campaign trail, President Obama is constantly talking about the importance of technology, but he met his match in an iPhone Sunday.
The president had stopped at a campaign office in Port St. Lucie, Fla., to thank volunteers. Then, for the cameras, Mr. Obama was supposed to call two campaign workers who were out working on his behalf.
But when White House trip director Marvin Nicholson handed the president his personal iPhone, Mr. Obama couldn’t get it to work. A reporter who witnessed the scene said the president looked “befuddled.”
“It’s not clear he knows how to dial on an iPhone,” the reporter wrote in a pool report.
Finally, Mr. Obama said, “Oh, I got to dial it in. Hold on, hold on. I can do this. See, I still have a BlackBerry.”
The president then “had a little more trouble dialing,” the pool report said.
The president then has more trouble dialing. When the call didn’t go through, he blamed Mr. Nicholson for having an insufficient cell phone plan.
This shouldn’t come as that much of a shock, considering that in May of 2010, Obama told the graduates of Virginia’s Hampton University:
“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.
Perhaps, for once, Mr. Obama was being honest about his technological limitations.
I don’t know how well he knows his way around an iPhone, but I know a president who wasn’t afraid to use his iPod on camera:
As Steve Green wrote in 2010, “They told me if I didn’t vote for Barack Obama, we’d end up with a techno-illiterate in the White House — and they were right!” — Steve really put the rhetorical dagger in — literally, the Joe Biden sense of the word, when he added, “PS Hey there, Mr. Supergenius President Sir? My four-year-old can work an iPod. Just sayin’.”
Update: “Somewhere, Rutherford B. Hayes is laughing.”
More: A reminder of one of Team Obama’s more infamous moments in 2008, as summarized by Moe Lane of Red State.org a few months ago:
In 2008 the Obama campaign released an ad that mocked John McCain for his inability to send an email – which infuriated people, because the reason why he can’t send an email is because his arms have never really worked properly after the North Vietnamese got done torturing him. When Obama’s Vice Presidential candidate Joe Biden dared mildly apologize for it, the Obama campaign humiliated Biden by having their lackey Bill Burton come out and retract Biden’s apology.
“Karma is a bitch,” Yehudit writes in the comments.
The fact the President Obama can’t work an iPhone isn’t an issue to me. There are lots of tech non-adepts out there. It’s even less an issue if he can actually work a BlackBerry. To my thinking, a president shouldn’t try to appear to be all things to all people. It’s disingenuous to make out like you’re a law-scholar, science wiz, basketball jock, econ wonk, and tech l33t all in one. That’s part of what staff and cabinet are for.
I would say that characterizing this as a “supermarket scanner moment” puts the emphasis on media interpretation. If this had been Bush 1 or 2, we’d hear about how “dumb” the president is for days. So-called comedians would have a field day with it. It won’t happen with Obama because the press can’t see it the same way. That’s an issue to me.
“It’s disingenuous to make out like you’re a law-scholar, science wiz, basketball jock, econ wonk, and tech l33t all in one“…
Well 44 months of Obama defiling the Oval Office has proven he isn’t any good in anything in your little list, so just what is he good for?
” … so just what is he good for?”
Nothing.
As Clint Eastwood said, he has to be let go.
The fact that he has trouble operating an iPhone is not an issue with me, but the fact that his default position is to blame someone else (phone plan) is…
I am sure you said the same of President Bush. Yes, completely sure.
I don’t recall Bush ever blaming anyone for anything unless they were guilty.
Being a member of the cult of Jobs isn;t the same as being technolgically literate. RIM might be dying, but Blackberries are still high tech devices.
What shocks me is that his campaign was a pioneer in using an iPhone app to coordinate volunteers and staffers. As I remember, it was very nicely produced, too.
So for him to have no awareness of the basic operation of the device is rather surprising. It indicates a sad lack of intellectual curiosity, which seems to match other things he’s done.
Incidentally, I’ve read the first few pages of the Woodward book (planning on buying it but haven’t pulled the trigger yet) and it is absolutely devastating to the President. From Day One, Obama pretended to be receptive to Republican ideas, but then pulled the plug on them in the most rude and callous way possible. Any centrist who reads it will be pretty alarmed.
D
Except, the supermarket scanner moment of George H. W. Bush was a false narrative. Bush knew what a scanner was and how it worked–the press just took his words out of context. No such false narrative at work here. Obama doesn’t even know how to use a cell phone.
John, thanks for adding that.
Bush I was head of the CIA at one point. I like to imagine he’d seen technology we can only dream of (although that may be putting too much faith in the CIA…)
Good politicians act surprised and impressed by stuff when they’re taking tours. It’s called “being polite” and looking humble.
Frankly, I think this is a case of making Obama look more likable – believe it or not, but iPhones are not something everyone owns, but only the rich.
Okay, Blackberries are aimed at an even richer demographic, but not everyone has $500 to blow on an iPad or phone. Not like he doesn’t know how to use an everyday common piece of technology…
Really? iPhones are for the rich? I see people at the grocery store paying with foodstamps and using iPhones and Androids (and the dialing is about the same on both). It’s a touch screen with big friendly numbers and a call button. Not rocket science. I was able to use one without instruction the first time I picked one up, and I’m only a couple years younger than him.
If he was going to be using an unfamiliar phone, more telling is that he and his staff didn’t think to rehearse the moment, as this was clearly a planned event. The blaming of his staffer is also the mark of a small man.
For God’s sake, Bush flew the F-102 Delta Dagger! No co-pilot, no navigator, no computer.
Unfortunately, the Stupid Party had no clue how to communicate this fact to the public.
I am NOT a fan of President Obama – I think his ideology is dangerous and his presidency has been profoundly damaging to our economy and our national security. But I find myself in a very odd situation of coming to his defense a bit on this. My guess is the reason that Obama is not familiar with an iphone or, most likely, an Android eitehr, is because of the necessity for secure communications. The ONLY reason that Blackberry manages to still hang on and have users is because it is the one phone that IT security types regard as capable of being made highly secure. My guess is that the White House security people do not have a sufficient comfort level with the iphone or Android platforms to recommend a switch over. And it is not like the President of the United States who has people and assistants at his beck and call at all times has a similar need for a smart phone to the degree that most other people do.
I also recall reading that when George W. Bush first became president he sent out an email to all of the people in his address book who he regularly corresponded with essentially saying goodbye and that he would not be sending them emails until the end of his presidency. My guess is the reason was because presidential emails end up being regarded as official government documents – and that there were probably political and security risks involve in him sending personal emails.
In fact the computers from high ranked officials are not even allowed to access the web.
My goddaughter knew how to operate an iPhone when she was 1 year old.
On the other hand, this is a stupid thing to care about.
“It’s disingenuous to make out like you’re a law-scholar, science wiz, basketball jock, econ wonk, and tech l33t all in one.”
Well the Legacy Media fell for that one in 2008, and pushed it for all it was worth thereafter. Of course they also pushed memes like Al Gore being an environmentalist (despite his 3 huge mansions and fleet of private jets), but ignored the President who lives in a modest ranch house made of recycled field stone and climate controlled using geothermal energy (hint; its the same guy with the iPod in the post).
So lets push stories like Obama doesn’t know how to use a cell phone. It will get under his skin and fracture the media “narrative” even more. Whatever it takes to end the Progressive project once and for all.
It’s not Obama’s fault. Somebody accidently set that iPhone’s default language to Austrian. They had to call for an electronic corpsman to fix it.
What you guys are missing is that the Obama campaign used this perception of technologically illiterate against McCain, who said his wife sends email for him. Meaning that he has trouble physically doing it. But the Obama used that remark to portray him as old and out-of-touch, while that Obama was technologically hip and cool. Who got the Silicon Valley vote?
Karma is a bitch.
Great point — I definitely want to add that in the updates to this post.
Speaking of tech, Ed, are you aware that there is a CPAC 2009 ad in the right sidebar?
Yes — it’s to commemorate Western CPAC, where I spoke and produced several videos that year.
The MSM pounced on Mitt Romney for saying, because of concerns about [Olympics] security, it was “hard to know just how well it will turn out”. They called it a Romneyshambles’, ‘party-pooper’, ‘worse than Palin’.
So Mr. Driscoll, please do not turn to the DARK SIDE that is the MSM.
The money quote is that wen he couldn’t get it to work he blamed someone else.
I’m surprised he didn’t blame Bush.
I guess the chosen one wasn’t able to wave his hand accross the iphone and make it do his bidding.
It seems to work with the MSM.
Like others, I’m not sure this is really important, but the LSM’s bias is huge. They would have made mincemeat out of Bush.
In a recent interview with Peter Robinson on Uncommon Knowledge, GWB mentioned that he now reads on an iPad.
Yeah, iPhones are very complicated to figure out. Which is why my two year old has NO problem accessing her favorite Hello Kitty games on my iPhone…..or Angry Birds on her daddy’s.
What a maroon!
“Karma is a bitch,” Yehudit writes in the comments.”
It sure is. I think all the same jokes made about Sarah Palin in 2008 should be made about Obama, that he’s really dumb, has no original thoughts, and can’t argue his way out of a public bathroom. Not that the mainstream media would ever air any of that because they’re so in the tank for Obama, but we should at least try to advance that narrative. Who knows, with all the video proof that is out there showing how stupid Obama really is (especially off teleprompter), it may just work.
So our rah-rah-no-outsourcing-Bain-is-evil president purchases the inferior Canadian product to the one that was engineered here in the U.S.? (I’m not stupid, I know both physical devices are manufactured in Asia…I’m talking R&D.)
RIM is through, as I hope this presidency is.
I’ll be looking for the SNL skit making fun of his doltish ineptitude. Oh, wait, he’s not Republican. Never mind…
This is too much. It means nothing. There are tons of GOOD reasons to despise Obama’s presidency. Let’s not nitpick on meaningless crap, please.
There’s always a killjoy whining in the thread admonishing the rest of us about how trivial a post is. Hey, it’s the Internet. There’s plenty of room for all kinds of posts. If you don’t like it, create your own blog. The rest of us are having fun.
The title of the post is off. The scanner moment was about Bush 1 not being able to do everyday things, like checkout at a grocery store. Not everyone has an IPhone. Anyway, not a good comparison at all, and seems like you had nothing better to write about.
Seriously? How many people DON’T have a smartphone?
Obama’s issues with I-phones are a reflection of the backward IT siituation in the Federal government.
Blackberry’s are now only sold to the Federal sector because they don’t have active digital camera’s and they meet National Security Agency encryption requirements.
That means they are always a day late and a major capability short compared to the free market.
And now Obama wants to use the Department of Homeland Security cyber-regulations to keep American IT at Fedweral Government Blackberry levels of functionality.
If anyone thinks Obama isn’t reasonably fluent in technology then the joke is on them. Contrary to the great Apple myth, iPhones are not all that easy to take in hand and figure out on the spot, particularly when you are used to phones with real buttons. Then, there’s personalization of the phone. This is the typical political tempest in a teapot. And, sure, both campaigns try to paint the other as incompetent, dangerous and out of touch. Why are we writing about this?
“Why are we writing about this?”
But I thought Barry was omniscient!
Google Romney+Wawa+touch screen and you’ll see why.
It is interesting to check the differences between obama’s and romney sponsors… if you check, obama is pretty much sponsored by important universities, while romney is sponsored by dark companies..
check obama’s http://clnk.me/1wOvE.
,and romney’s http://clnk.me/1wEaE ,, contributors..
and then see the differenceI know obama will not be the best… but… at least there are no dark interest behind him and he promotes national products
Does anyone remember when Obama got behind the wheel of a chevy volt and seemed confused about how to drive? He can’t golf, can’t throw a baseball, can’t recall a single beloved Chicago white Sox player, confused about # of states, had composite girl friends, relates fictious experiences. Does he share a single real American Experience? Or is it all made up?
I thought Apple products were advertised as super-duper easy-peasy user-friendly and practically could dial (or use) themselves?
What is sad is that Obama has an iPad, so it’s not like he’s unfamiliar with Ios.
Obama is the walking posterchild for the Dunning-Kruger Effect.
The Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which unskilled individuals suffer from illusory superiority, mistakenly rating their ability much higher than average. This bias is attributed to a metacognitive inability of the unskilled to recognize their mistakes.
This nails it.
Any who plays basketball for real will tell you he cannot play a lick. Same with golf. But the MSM is always reporting how great he is at both. This always reminds me of the sycophants who always surrounded Elvis during his judo and karate sessions – taking dives and doing flips everytime he came at them. I’m convinced that Elvis really felt he deserved that black belt. Also, there is a story about Kim Jong Il reported by the N Korea state controlled media that the first time he played golf he got 11 holes in one and shot 38 under par. Now that’s a dear leader who knows how to golf.
I don’t know if he deserved a real black belt. Hey, he was studying Kenpo, and they are pretty generous with belts, so maybe he “earned” a Kenpo black belt.
But I digress…
Anyway, have you seen the video of the attempted kidnapping of Elvis at some event in Vegas? Presley does a pretty nice job of kicking one of the would-be kidnappers down off of the stage.
Maybe not black belt material, or maybe he was Kenpo black belt material, but he wasn’t a complete softie, either.
Funny that you title the article with a reference to one of the most ridiculous media distortions ever: when the N.Y. Times claimed George H. W. Bush didn’t know what a supermarket scanner is.
Hmnmmmm.
Am I the only one who remembers the press going on and on about what a techo-wizard this guy is supposed to be? How he’s addicted to his Blackberry? Uses it all the time?
So much so that it was considered a national security risk?
Well, until he was sworn in, and then he declared that he WOULD use it, and it is decreed henceforth no longer a risk.
So, a marvelous techno-wiz can’t dial an iPhone or a Blackberry?
So, anybody want to be he knows how to play games on it?
I had a very young grandson at my house one day and we were in the basement and I have a rotary dial phone down there. I told him to call his mother about something and he came back and said he didn’t know how to use the phone. I laughed and laughed about this but this grandson was teaching me things on my computer when he was only 4. And O is supposed to be smarter than a 4 year.