I just read this article from Newsweek about if it matters if John McCain is computer literate. Andrew Romano made a good point when he said most of us are computer savvy because we work with computers in the workplace, but when you’re a Senator or even President, Internet surfing is left up to staffers and legislative assistants. In fact, a computer is not even in the Oval Office for security purposes. It’s not that one does not want to learn, it’s all about the necessity to use the computer for daily activities… here’s what Romano had to say:
McCain Can’t Use ‘a Google.’ So What?
The only problem? This line of reasoning is misleading. For one thing, McCain’s computer illiteracy doesn’t reflect a lack of curiosity–it reflects a lack of necessity. Over the past 10 years, most adult Americans have encountered and explored computers primarily in the workplace, where the ability to communicate and find information on the Internet has gradually become a required skill. But McCain’s job in the U.S. Senate–where all communication and information has to be filtered through staffers–has actually made fluency more difficult to achieve (or at least less necessary). When aides are responding to your messages and briefing you on every imaginable subject, the incentive to get online sort of disappears.
I know that I would not want the President of the United States to fall for any phishing scams nor get Spam for Al Qaeda. I would rather see the President work less on his MySpace page and work harder at bringing down gas prices,bringing a peaceful end to the War in Iraq, and finding a cure for cancer.
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