More on Presidents and the Internet

Lee Gomes of The Wall Street Journal yesterday continued the debate over whether a president should use a computer. (The whole discussion started two weeks ago when The New York Times published an article in which John McCain said he is "becoming computer literate to the point where I can get the information that I need." He added that he doesn't feel the need to e-mail. The comments sparked numerous blogs (including one from FedBlog and two from Tech Insider, here and here) to debate whether that showed McCain out of touch or someone who has reached a level in his career that such mundane workplace practices are distracting.

In his column, Gomes comes down somewhere in the middle. He wrote:

If I were the chief of staff at the White House, I would have some sort of computer, not in the Oval Office itself, since it wouldn't match the furniture, but one office away. I'd push the president to spend, say, 20 minutes a day on the machine -- whether he would complain about the limit or about the mandated time.

The president wouldn't need to worry about his email inbox; a staff would be standing by ready to handle it. . . . The president could use his computer time any way he wished: a favorite blog, YouTube videos, a mind-clearing game of Spider Solitaire. So many of his constituents would be doing the same thing at the same time, it would be a good way to keep up with the common folk.

Gomes' point hits on the subtlety of the argument, although the headline for the column -- "Note to President: Avoid Computers" -- suggests otherwise. It's not that the president should be technologically literate so that he can do his job more efficiently. Rather, by familairizing yourself with the Internet, a president learns how most Americans work, where and how they get information, and what is one of the biggest drivers of the economy. It helps form the context that is so important to informing policy.