United States President Barack Obama, during a speech today at Hampton University, criticized the use of gadgets like Apple’s iPad and iPod touch and called these devices a “distraction” and “diversion” for the nation, specially for the students.
He further said in his speech, to the students of Hampton University, that information as entertainment is becoming more as a burden to the young minds rather than an empowerment tool.
He further said
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.
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. So all of this is not only putting pressure on you; it’s putting new pressure on our country and on our democracy.
This speech of President Barack Obama shows that he is concerned about the young generation of U.S. but still devices like iPad are more like helping gadgets rather than tools of destructions. Every gadget is made to help the user but if somebody would spend his whole day playing on iPad or any other gadget than it’s a mistake of the user rather than the gadget.
iPad is not only for browsing and playing games, it is also a ebook reader so it is also helpful for students to an extent. Overall, devices like iPad are very helpful and if it is a distraction then our laptops and computers are worst distractions than the iPad.
[source Huffington Post]
Why is it no one really gets what he's talking about? He's talking about the mis-information overload. Too much of what is spewed forth on the Internet is sheer mis-information at best, and lies at worst. What he really needs is a new speechwriter who could have gotten that point across.
I absolutely agree with Mr. Obama on this issue. Even the slightest rumor can spread like wildfire and have serious consequences in the real world…