President-elect 'to give up his BlackBerry'
He "tweeted" supporters from his smart phone on the way to his election night victory rally. He wants to be the first president to bring a laptop into the Oval Office. But there is one gadget Barack Obama will not have at his fingertips after moving into the White House: his BlackBerry.
Aides told the New York Times yesterday that it is doubtful Obama will continue to email after taking office on January 20 - because of the risk of hackers, as well as the requirements of the Presidential Records Act, under which all of his correspondence enters into the public record.
Previous presidents have recognised the personal restrictions inherent in the need to preserve White House communications for history. Before moving into the White House, George Bush sent a farewell email to 42 friends and relatives saying he was shutting down email communications.
But Obama is known as somebody whose thumbs were practically welded to his BlackBerry. On the campaign trail, he used the device to receive briefings and memos from campaign staff - rather than get stacks of paper delivered to his house or hotel room.
