Technology has provided some of this campaign's best moments. Also, some of the worst
Posted 10.30.2008 at 11:21 am
12 Comments
Just as the 1960 election was the first to be truly shaped by the television medium, this year's presidential throwdown will go down as the first that was undeniably shaped, and perhaps even decided, by technology. From the very beginning, the news media, the pundits, the public, and the candidates themselves have engaged tech in ways and to levels that simply weren't possible before now. As a technology enthusiast, it's been thrilling to see things like blogs, widgets, Twitter feeds, Facebook, and text messaging enter the mainstream political lexicon. And while there are plenty of examples of tech being used in good ways during this historic contest, there's also been a great deal of misuse. Here are the 10 worst moments of tech from the 2008 election.
CNN's Touchscreen Fetish
Ever since the primaries, CNN viewers have had to suffer the indignity of watching Wolf Blitzer, John King and friends awkwardly fumble around with the network's new supersized touchscreens, succeeding only in showing us all how hopelessly out of touch they are with modern gadgetry. Seriously, it's like watching Abe Vigoda try to operate an iPhone. As SNL's Fred Armisen so hilariously demonstrated in a recent "Weekend Update" sketch, the technology is being used only to distract viewers from a general lack of anything interesting to report.
John McCain, BlackBerry Inventor
Not content to let the Dems garner all of the tech cred for their invention of the Internet, John McCain's top economic honcho dropped a real doozy earlier this year when he held up his BlackBerry during a press conference and proclaimed, "You're looking at the miracle John McCain helped create." While that would certainly be quite the feat for a guy who was all but unaware of the Internet until a few short months ago, McCain later hung his man out to dry by calling his remark a "boneheaded joke."
Yahoo-Gate
Even if you prefer Tina Fey's bumbling impersonation to the real thing, you had to feel bad for Sarah Palin when her personal email account was hacked into. Yeah, she probably shouldn't have been using a free Yahoo address to conduct official state business, but imagine how absolutely mortifying it must have been for her to wake up on September 16th and throw on her red power suit, only to discover that her private photos and messages had become chum for the morning news sharks. Folks just aren't as nice on the Internet as they are in Alaska.
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from Sao Paulo, SP
Great story. Funny and informative. A++.
from Lafayette, CO
"While that would certainly be quite the feat for a guy who was all but unaware of the Internet until a few short months ago"
Before you repeat the lie perhaps you should do a little more research. This has been debunked repeatedly. Then journalists are have become unbelievably lazy and ignorant.
wow...
popsci is now officially infested with marxist/socialist ideas. whatever happened to non-biased info. i guess i will have to turn on the fox news.
This country was founded as a constitutional republic. What happened? why is it that almost every media outlet is spewing liberal propaganda?
can anybody agree with me?
I turn for popsci for science, not biased media.
Since someone accused popsci is now officially infested of marxist/socialist ideas. My question is which of the following 3 sceneries do you think is more marxism/socialism
1. Obama's tax plan, which has exactly the same graduated tax bracket as Clinton era. (FYI, McCain's tax system is also graduated tax, only the tax rate different than Obama's)
2. Propose to use $300 billion of tax payer's money to buy up trouble mortgages at face value and restructure the mortgages load at market value. (McCain's proposal)
3. Impose special tax on oil company to create special fund for a one-time $1,200 special refund for every Alaskan eligible for the Permanent Fund Dividend. Each Alaskan also receives an additional payment of about $2,000 annually from this fund. (Palin’s first acts as governor of Alaska)
People, make your own judgement. Do not blindly believe what others have said and put label on. You do not have to believe me, all this information are freely available.
Hmm, maybe you should rename to "Populist Science". Why all the political bent on a science magazine site? Why is the Sarah Palin picture on the lead-in link instead of Obama-girl?
But, interestingly, no mention of how Not-the-president Gore uses technology to manipulate the facts on so-called Man-made Global Warming? Some incredible PhotoShop work in his movie..oh, yeah, that's right, he already got the Oscar for that.
Thank you for saving me money..I'm added your rag to the countless others I have cancelled because they've gotten away from their main mission - reporting NEWS!!!! If I want editorial, I'll buy the NY Times or watch CNN.
from Summerland Key, FL
A few days ago I emailed Pop Sci voicing my discontent with the jump into the political arena. It doesn't matter which side you are on, this is a science magazine that is becoming a political magazine. STOP IT!
I subscribed because I have grown tired of listening to and reading politics...
It seems a lot of you agree.
I'm another subscriber that is disappointed at the politics of this article.
Don't you editors know that ANY political comment is going to piss off half of your readers..Jeez, who makes the decisions?
Try to stay focused.
Last I have checked, most universities still offer major in political SCIENCE. In an election season, politics is certainly a POPULAR topic. I don't see what's wrong with covering politics in election season on popular science. What happened to the freedom of press? If you don't like a particular topic, you are not forced to read it. It's your own choice whether to read it or not.
Speaking of election tech, here's an interesting video about some of the technical issues afflicting malfunctioning voting machines:
http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/145.html
you can add this article as one of the elections lows. mc cain knows what the internet is. his arms were broken from real torture, when he was a pow. as a result he has limited arm movement. and can't type, making e-mail difficult. bad fact checking? or lies?
As The Articale States, It Is The Top Ten Election LOWS On The Internet. Freedom Of Speech Gives All Americans The Right To Express Yourself Wether Your Liberal Or Conservative. This Right Also Allows Us To Laugh At Ourselves And Our Politicans To Remain Sane. We Can Also Elect To Read An Artical Or Not When We Find It Offensive To Our Own Personal Beliefs. Because Popular Science Chose To Feature The 10 Election Lows Reflects On The Lows Some People Have Practiced On The Internet Does Not Reflect On The Quality Of The Magazine. The Magazine Overall Reflects On Modern Day Science Issues Including Internet Use.
I find nothing wrong with this article. It shows relation of politics and technical science.
All you babies blabbering about this being biased should open a different page.
I found this article quite humorous.