Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Obama bemoans 'diversions' of IPod, Xbox era

google.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 73 posts

Re: Obama bemoans 'diversions' of IPod, Xbox era

#41

Post by patio11 »

hugh3 wrote: post #38
marilyn wrote: post #23

Obama's arguments here remind me of Noam Chomsky's thoughts on sports: Sports keeps people from worrying about things that matter to their lives that they might have some idea of doing something about. And in fact it’s striking to see the intelligence that’s used by ordinary people in sports [as opposed to political and social issues]. So much chatter to distract us from the important issues of the day.

For Noam Chomsky, like other radical leftists, the idea that the working class is deceived and distracted is part of an anti-cognitive-dissonance package to explain why the supposedly-oppressed masses fail to share his political opinions. Obama isn't nearly as extreme as Chomsky politically, but come from the same sort of intellectual heritage.

Thus the corollary: when the Revolution comes, the workers will need to be lead by those who are intellectually capable of leading them, and academic Marxists will take their rightful place in the cosmos as rulers of all they surv... first among equals.

This has basically been the totalitarian promise for a couple of centuries now.

Re: Obama bemoans 'diversions' of IPod, Xbox era

#42

Post by ebiester »

marilyn wrote: post #23

Obama's arguments here remind me of Noam Chomsky's thoughts on sports: Sports keeps people from worrying about things that matter to their lives that they might have some idea of doing something about. And in fact it’s striking to see the intelligence that’s used by ordinary people in sports [as opposed to political and social issues]. So much chatter to distract us from the important issues of the day.

The issue is that, with sports, people at least have a chance of being on the winning side.

Cheering for the sane public transportation team, in most cities, is like cheering for the Cubs. You know you're never going to win.

Re: Obama bemoans 'diversions' of IPod, Xbox era

#44

Post by patio11 »

sachinag wrote: post #21
hugh3 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems his argument is that information inundation lets stupid ideas live longer than they might otherwise, which is actually pretty wise I'm not convinced that Obama can distinguish between "stupid ideas" and "ideas which are contrary to the Obama agenda" though. Of course he's hardly unique among politicians for this, but I do think he's less likely than, say, President Bush, to acknowledge the existence of infor…

The birther stuff, in particular, is a great example of nonsense that perpetuates. On a policy level, we were hijacked by the death panel nonsense. Debate the public option and minimum coverage requirements and subsidies - sure - but the death panel stuff is just nonsense designed purely to distort the debate. If you don't get how having to deal with stuff like that at the expense of substantive debate harms our nati…

I have an alternative theory: Obama is contemptuous of video games and iPods because Obama is contemptuous of video games and iPods. The hip, with-it, I-use-Twitter Obama that so many folks fell in love with? That was the poll-tested messaged-massaged for-marketing-consumption version.

Re: Obama bemoans 'diversions' of IPod, Xbox era

#45

Post by daeken »

[deleted] wrote: post #43
[deleted] wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[deleted]

[deleted]

I have no intention of getting an iPad and generally strongly dislike Apple (frivolous legal threats will do that), but you couldn't be more off the mark if you tried. Yes, the iPad is primarily used for consumption, but 1) there's no reason you can't build content creation tools that are web-based, if you want to skip the app store, and 2) the biggest uses of computers in non-work settings are purely consumption-based; do you plan on crucifying Mozilla for building a web browser that's generally used for checking Facebook and reading the news?

Get out of your ivory tower.

Re: Obama bemoans 'diversions' of IPod, Xbox era

#46

Post by brown9-2 »

hammerdr wrote: post #27
silentOpen wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He's not placing the blame on the tools any more than you or I would bemoan the hours 'lost' to Hacker News. It's a longer view, step back. We do need to come to grips with the social changes that are occurring and the implications of our present and future digital lives. Our man-made environment isn't the problem, it's our evolutionary memory combined with the phenomenal acceleration of information technology.

I disagree because of this one line in his speech: "none of which I know how to work" which reads like the classic politician's way of distancing him- or herself from the technology (and have heard from technophobic politicians-- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/11/mccain-admits-he-do... ). Whether its true or not isn't really the point (do we seriously believe Obama wouldn't know what to do with a iPad, iPhone…

The President knows how to use an iPod and regularly uses a Blackberry. He is certainly not a technophobe, you are misreading everything he says if you believe this.

I think he is just being innocently self-deprecating.

Re: Obama bemoans 'diversions' of IPod, Xbox era

#47

Post by ebiester »

hugh3 wrote: post #26
sachinag wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The birther stuff, in particular, is a great example of nonsense that perpetuates. On a policy level, we were hijacked by the death panel nonsense. Debate the public option and minimum coverage requirements and subsidies - sure - but the death panel stuff is just nonsense designed purely to distort the debate. If you don't get how having to deal with stuff like that at the expense of substantive debate harms our nati…

Actually I kinda think stupid ideas like birtherism are deliberately given air by the Obama operation. I don't mean that in a "conspiracy theory" sense, I just mean that politicians would rather engage loudly with the silliest of their opponents rather than the most sensible. By focusing attention on the few loonies who oppose Obama, Obama attempts to associate opposition to Obama with looniness. If birthers didn't e…

The birthers are only the easiest example. Look at the health care debate. I am sympathetic to a capitalist-based reform, but the fundamental problem is that even the moderately informed had difficulties following the real issues because the media failed to actually tell people what the public option was!

I've heard multiple anecdotes (I know, not a representative sample) where someone "came up with" the public option but didn't explain it with those words, and their friends thought it was a good idea, but the "public option" was "government intervention and death panels."

The problem isn't the competing ideas -- the problem is the level of the debate.

Re: Obama bemoans 'diversions' of IPod, Xbox era

#48

Post by brown9-2 »

hugh3 wrote: post #11
tel wrote: post #5

It seems his argument is that information inundation lets stupid ideas live longer than they might otherwise, which is actually pretty wise. It's not necessary to pin it on iPods and XBoxes, but the idea that we need to learn healthy ways to survive information bombardment is neither new nor unwieldy. The historical comparisons are interesting, but I suppose it's one of those questions where technology is available b…

It seems his argument is that information inundation lets stupid ideas live longer than they might otherwise, which is actually pretty wise I'm not convinced that Obama can distinguish between "stupid ideas" and "ideas which are contrary to the Obama agenda" though. Of course he's hardly unique among politicians for this, but I do think he's less likely than, say, President Bush, to acknowledge the existence of infor…

And you sound to me like someone who comes to this discussion with some preconceptions of his/her own.

He regularly acknowledges other viewpoints and their validity.

What he is speaking out against is obvious mistruths: birtherism, "Obama is a socialist", death panels, "Obama is a secret Muslim", health care reform gives the government the power to pull the plug on grandma, etc.

Re: Obama bemoans 'diversions' of IPod, Xbox era

#49

Post by d3vvnull »

indrax wrote: post #18

>"With iPods and iPads and Xboxes and PlayStations, -- none of which I know how to work..." What the hell? This sounds like Bush. What happened to the guy who was in love with his blackberry?

A blackberry isn't a toy. I have at least three of the items mentioned on the list (which are toys), and I use none of them for actual productive work. Though I do have a telnet terminal app on the iPod. Still all of the devices he mentions were not designed for productive enterprises, but for diversions. And diversions have a way of being big time wasters if you're not balanced. Not today Halo 3!

Re: Obama bemoans 'diversions' of IPod, Xbox era

#50

Post by tokipin »

brown9-2 wrote: post #46
hammerdr wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree because of this one line in his speech: "none of which I know how to work" which reads like the classic politician's way of distancing him- or herself from the technology (and have heard from technophobic politicians-- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/11/mccain-admits-he-do... ). Whether its true or not isn't really the point (do we seriously believe Obama wouldn't know what to do with a iPad, iPhone…

The President knows how to use an iPod and regularly uses a Blackberry. He is certainly not a technophobe, you are misreading everything he says if you believe this. I think he is just being innocently self-deprecating.

yes, it is what we would refer to as "humor"
Post reply on HN