Barack Obama iPad In DODOcase (PHOTO)

President Obama's iPad apparently has a new accessory.

A Thanksgiving White House photo captured the commander-in-chief sitting at his Oval Office desk, making calls to U.S. troops. To the right of Obama's chair was an object that looked like a book, but Political Wire notes that it is in fact an iPad lodged inside a DODOcase.

Back in October 2010, DODOcase co-founder Patrick Buckley explained in a HuffPost blog that his company's "mission is to protect the art of book binding from extinction". The cases are designed to transfer the age-old craft to modern technology.

Obama initially showcased some reservations toward hi-tech devices. About a month after the iPad's April 2010 release, he told students during a Hampton University commencement speech that gadgets were turning information into a "distraction".

"With iPods and iPads and Xboxes and PlayStations – none of which I know how to work – information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment, rather than a tool of empowerment, rather than the means of emancipation," Obama said. "All of this is not only putting new pressures on you. It is putting new pressures on our country and on our democracy."

By March 2011, Obama's tech tune had changed. In an interview at a Washington town hall, the president told moderator Jorge Ramos that he owned an iPad. About a month later, a tablet-esque device was spotted on Obama's desk.

Comments

[MikeyJaii]

04:25 PM on 12/01/2011

Big deal.

[kimhoulian]

01:06 PM on 12/01/2011

"With iPods and iPads and Xboxes and PlayStations – none of which I know how to work – information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment, rather than a tool of empowerment, rather than the means of emancipation," Obama said. "All of this is not only putting new pressures on you. It is putting new pressures on our country and on our democracy."

I always took this statement as something that he was directing toward kids in school who use these devices for games rather than learning. I see this article as a fail attempt to make President Obama seem contradictory. President Obama was always hi tech, he wanted to keep his blackberry

[gregory57]

12:58 PM on 12/01/2011

Did you notice all the dust on the president's desk? WTF?

[Java1959]

02:44 PM on 12/01/2011

Yeah, I was just getting ready to post on that. Must only be used for photo ops. The real office is probably in the basement somewhere. LOL.

[becky bradshaw]

11:34 AM on 12/01/2011

It is understandable that Obama would be embarrassed by an iPad, since it is an Apple product. Steven Jobs estimated that Apple was directly responsible for 700,000 jobs in China (http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/heres-to-the-makers-of-fabulous-things/2011/11/01/gIQA1wFldM_story.html). Most estimates conclude that for each manufacturing job, 3-4 support jobs are created. One would conclude that about three million people are unemployed because of Apple's China operation. Three million.

Contrast Apple with Intel. "Innovation was followed by production in the same factories where we innovated.” Andy Grove, Co-Founder and former CEO of Intel.

[llibsetag]

03:01 AM on 12/01/2011

Steve Jobs gave POTUS Obama the iPad in person during a chat when Obama had his private Silicon Valley Tech Giants Business Summit in California.

[barkingcat]

12:25 PM on 12/01/2011

Bot de Spam.

[Danny Beaulieu]

01:24 PM on 12/01/2011

I'm not spamming, I just wanted to share the 10% discount. I bought mine yesterday and had a lot of trouble finding a rebate coupon online.

[politicaljungle]

07:12 PM on 11/30/2011

worse, did he pose for that photo, or somebody sneaking around taking his picture - cause that photo looks posed - nobody talks on a land line

[politicaljungle]

07:15 PM on 11/30/2011

cause there's no light source reflecting off the table like that - whole photo is professional -
"OK, pick up the phone, lean slightly to your right, head down while we adjust the lighting, so you look like you're in a pool of heavenly light...." Now "somebody get the Ipad" What's he reading? There's no file on his desk - he's reading blank paper

[thecastermaster]

09:10 PM on 11/30/2011

Umm, I do that with Photoshop all the time

[mairs]

09:22 PM on 11/30/2011

Anyone who doesn't want someone to eavesdrop on their call uses a land line. It is more secure.

[politicaljungle]

11:10 PM on 11/30/2011

AT&T got caught eavesdropping - big lawsuit - land line
do you know hoiw easy it is to hook onto a landline?

[gurloc]

06:09 PM on 11/30/2011

A case that makes your iPad look like a book?

Do they also sell a body kit that makes my car look like a horse? Or maybe some
fake smallpox scars so that I can look like I come from a time before immunization.

Anachronisms can sometimes be interesting or they can be idiotic, I would put this iPad
case in the second category. Now if only they had a case that made my iPad look like
a clay tablet...

[John Crane]

05:48 PM on 11/30/2011

I'm not as concerned about what's in the book as I am about all the dust on his desk top.

[Pansey]

07:00 PM on 11/30/2011

Seriously, I noticed that too.

[seriousbidness]

11:01 AM on 12/01/2011

Given the angle and the light reflection that actually could be a sign that sucker needs to be refinished. I'm not 100% sure but I think that desk could be a bit old and I'm sure it gets a fair share of abuse.

Sometimes old finishes, especially at angle, can appear to be covered in dust but upon closer inspection it's just that the finish has degraded. Just sayin'.

But ya the Commander in Chief needs a new one. Ikea is probably having a sale too.

[gemini68]

11:11 AM on 12/01/2011

It's not dust. It's the age of the wood. It could use a good polishing.

[sirocknick]

05:46 PM on 11/30/2011

IS THIS A REAL NEWS STORY? Details below.

[ChristopherTracy215]

05:36 PM on 11/30/2011

I'm more interested in the watch. Anybody know the name of the watch he's wearing?

[ThinkCreeps]

06:24 PM on 11/30/2011

Jorg Gray according to Jorg Gray, but that clearly isn't.

[Tony Piazza]

04:27 PM on 11/30/2011

Is that iPad 1?

[arod72]

04:38 PM on 11/30/2011

Cute

[llibsetag]

03:02 AM on 12/01/2011

iPad One