President Barack Obama is not shy when it comes to using technology. He has been an ardent user of the BlackBerry smartphone from Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM). Apparently, he love for technology does not stop there. Media reports say Obama met this morning with Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) CEO Steve Jobs while President Obama is out on the West Coast. Most reports say Obama and Jobs discussed American competitiveness and education, as well as job creation and energy independence.
The point in the meeting that has been under-covered is that President Obama has previously called many electronic devices an information distraction. If you see iPhone users compared to many other smartphone users, it is pretty hard to argue against whether they are distracted. They are.
We have heard that Steve Jobs is more of a technology evangelist than a political evangelist. The media reports have not really asked a question that we have to ask… Did Steve Jobs try to give President Obama an iPhone?
There is an old saying that an offer is as good as a take. Jobs would probably love to see President Obama sliding his fingers over an iPhone, but the last thing a company leader with extremely hot products can do is to politicize its products.
Research in Motion has not really been politicized over Obama’s use of the BlackBerry. R-I-M has not used marketing campaigns such as “Good Enough for the White House” nor “Obama Likes Us.” If they have used marketing like that, we haven’t seen it. RIM’s big marketing coup was getting a U2 song with Bono singing in the commercial, while Bono had been a huge backer of Palm via his Elevation Partners.
It is unlikely that Steve Jobs would take the aggressive approach either if Obama did use an iPhone. If polls were 80% favorable that would be one thing, but that is not the case. Even if it was, history has shown how high approval ratings often change sharply through time.
JON C. OGG
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