Monday, 26 January 2009

Obama's Acceptance Speech: REFRESH!

I was, at first, disappointed in Obama's inaugural address. Not very moving. No clear call-to-action. After months of his trademark "soaring oratory" it felt like a letdown. But two things subsequently happened. As I was watching the speech on the Beeb, I was simultaneously facebooking, and someone updated their status with a comment about the new White House web site. As Obama spoke, it launched. REFRESH! And that's when the goosebumps happened. It's all in the details. The elegant redesign. The articulate agenda. Take a look. http://www.whitehouse.gov/. Contemporary. Thrilling. It's not about the speech. It's about real time governance.

The second thing that happened: an article in the New York Times that pointed out what I wished I'd been smart enough to notice: it's all in the details of the speech itself. In real time, it's not about the memorable Kennedyesque phrase. It's about the transcript, which is instantly live, accessible, Wikipediable, Googleable. It's about every word.

http://theboard.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/20/two-little-huge-things-obama-said/

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