Obama, the iPhone and False Equivalency

That's not an iPhone anyway.
Image from Washington Times.

We talk a lot about false equivalency, and it's because we have to. Constantly, seemingly every single day, there is some sort of news nugget that screams, "bad analogy." Today's item is that President Obama can't work an iPhone. And so, it's the same as John McCain's cluelessness with technology in 2008 and George H.W. Bush's unfamiliarity with grocery scanners in 1992. And fine, whatever, have your fun, but. . .

The reason that this is a false equivalency is that Obama isn't clueless about technology. He is widely known to have been a Blackberry fiend on the campaign trail in 2007 and 2008, to the point of being restricted by the campaign. The iPhone came out in 2007, and the President had been in office for most of its lifespan. Anybody--tech head like me or not--will not know how to use the phone instantly upon first picking one up. I'm an Android user, and though I'm the only one in my office that can figure out how to load paper in the fax machine, change the ink in the printer, map a drive, and get the router online, I am unfamiliar with iPhones.

Beyond that, the core of Mitt Romney's base is old white people who are very likely, as a group, unfamiliar with how to operate an iPhone. But as I said, go ahead, have your fun. But you're not going to gain any voters with this one. And you know what? I'll bet that Mitt--unless he's being schooled right now--is unfamiliar with iPhones. . .or Androids.

[Excerpt]
 
Tech challenge: Obama has trouble with iPhone
 
On the campaign trail, President Obama is constantly talking about the importance of technology, but he met his match in an iPhone Sunday. . .
Read more: Washington Times