Rebooting The White House
POSTED IN: Blog Posts, Technology
Yesterday marked the inauguration of not only our first African-American president, but also our most tech-savvy. Obama is the first president to release a web video address, he’s glued to his BlackBerry and is a known Mac enthusiast. So it’s no surprise that one of the first and most public signs of his administration at work was the new WhiteHouse.gov web site that launched yesterday at noon.
The New WhiteHouse.gov Web Site
The new design includes more interactive features, a prominent photo gallery, the ability to get e-mail updates, and a White House blog. The site’s “briefing room” also includes places for a weekly video address, slide shows, proclamations, and executive orders as well as news about nominations and appointments.
Contrast this site with its predecessors:
Bush Administration WhiteHouse.gov Web Site (2008)
Bush Administration WhiteHouse.gov Web Site (2007)
Could the huge step forward with the new WhiteHouse.gov web site be indicative of a new tech-savvy era for our government? With Obama’s camp producing amazing web sites like BarackObama.com, the pre-inauguration transition site Change.gov and grassroots public service site USAService.org, I think we can expect this administration to utilize technology and the Internet like never before.
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January 21, 2009
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I love the new look. Very clean…
I was reading in WIRED about all the limitations on government sites they have, so it’s even more of a challenge to make it look good.
And I think the gov. has always been tech-savvy… almost every new technology has been influenced by some form of our government. It’s just getting them to be user-friendly and talk to each other that’s the issue!
Jason Ruggles’s last blog post..Our Weekend in “Snow-HI-O”
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January 21, 2009
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No doubt is it aesthetically better than all its predecessors (travel back in time to the first whitehouse.gov site here! http://www.clintonlibrary.gov/archivesearch.html) Considering W. was inaugurated when Netscape Navigator was still a primary browser, Google was better known as a huge number, and 56.6K modems reigned, it is understandable why the government was less connected online.
Eight years later, you better believe we should expect our government to be more tech-savvy. We young’uns need a leader that we can relate to and can relate to us – one that knows how to get our attention. We need to run out of excuses not be involved in our country’s business and I think this is a great start.
Nina’s last blog post..India on My Mind
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January 21, 2009
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I have to say that I love that Obama seems to be interested in being interactive with the people he serves.
There’s a huge difference in the web sites. I’ll be more likely to visit the new one regularly.
Kelli’s last blog post..Is God Smiling Today?
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January 21, 2009
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Not much different, actually. I spent a lot of time reading the Bush site over the years, and it was quite informative.
Obama’s use of video/youtube has and will be a nice feature, something that Bush didn’t use, and according to the news today, the media pool’s notes will be put up on the site everyday. So that too will be a new more transparent addition to the site.
To repeat though, if you wanted info about the Bush Admin, their site was more than sufficient. Adding a blog and video updates are just more bells and whistles.
Brad Peters’s last blog post..We Have Only Our Bodies
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January 21, 2009
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as long as this tech savvy president keeps the main thing the main thing…and that’s not blogging, twittering, etc.
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January 21, 2009
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I know the focus of this post is the whole design issue, and I get that, but if I could add another thought…
I would rather have some guy/gal who is NOT tech-savvy that I agree with on the major issues, than a hip, with it guy who I don’t.
Jason Ruggles’s last blog post..Our Weekend in “Snow-HI-O”
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January 21, 2009
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I think it’s fantastic that President Obama has taken such huge steps forward in the use of technology. While I do wish my country (Canada) would begin to embrace the twenty-first century, my deeper desire is that those who may follow in Obama’s footsteps, whether 4 or 8 or 12 years down the road, will continue to push the envelope when it comes to the use of technology. Its great that Obama has an all-star cast when it comes to his use of technology, but it would be a shame if those who follow him don’t utilize the same or more advanced systems in their leadership.
Pat
Pat’s last blog post..In Shape – The Journey
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January 21, 2009
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saw this yesterday and it was an a huge leap in design and functionality… there are certainly things I disagree with Mr O about but the site is great. Bet that was one heck of a redesign job for some team out there.
Scott Fillmer’s last blog post..Snowflake Photo of the Sunrise Through a Frosted Window
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January 21, 2009
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I think the new site is great. A lot of the info is largely the same, but the call to be more transparent will most likely be served well through the new more interactive design.
I heard a news article a few weeks ago on NPR with Tim O’Reilly (of O’Reilly Publishing–the nerd books) and his use of technology (twitter, facebook, etc). Someone from a government branch called in and said that they were really pushing for a more interactive government technology presence to help deliver services better.
Michigan’s website (http://www.michigan.gov) has an incredible amount of information and self-service design features that for quite some time was leading the pack.
As far as rebooting the White House goes, I think we’re going to witness change on such a grand scale. This evening on ABC World News, there was a small segment about Chinese school children chanting “Yes we can.” I think it bodes well for us as a nation that there’s such an overwhelmingly positive response globally.
Cheers from -2 Michigan.
Aaron’s last blog post..Dear Mr. President – A Letter to Barack Obama