Mrs. Landingham Your President is a Geek.. (Life imitates art)

[ddeclue]

I'm an engineer and a Democrat too so I like Obama and appreciate technology but an Ipod for the Queen of England after giving the Prime Minister a DVD box set?

This is wrong on so many levels...

First off, the P.M. got a better gift than the Queen.

Secondly, the Queen already had an iPod - DOH!... As if it were surprising that the Queen of England worth hundreds of millions of dollars wouldn't already have a hundred dollar piece of consumer electronics.

Thirdly, this is the kind of gift you buy for your 14 year old nephew's birthday, not as a gift exchanged between heads of state.

Next, it isn't even American made. The DVD box set, if not actually manufactured in the USA contained classic American films that were at least icons of American culture and on a certain level this gift did have cultural significance. The iPod, unless it came pre-loaded with American Rock and Roll, Jazz, Rap, Blues, and Country and Western music really doesn't qualify - it would be a better gift from the heads of state of Japan or China where it was likely manufactured.

Either our President is a total technology geek and thinks that everyone else is too, or he is really really bad at buying gifts and does all his shopping at BestBuy or he holds a secret grudge against the United Kingdom.

Talk about riding your bike into a tree...

:blush:

[MrCoffee]

1. Rest in peace, John Spencer

Completely off-topic, but I still get choked up when I see his picture.

[dixiegrrrrl]

34. You are not alone....I suddenly got teary eyed at the picture.

Reality sucks compared to the West Wing, doesn't it?


ok...back to the Obama gift bashing.....

[MercutioATC]

2. Agreed. "Different" gifts are great, but they need to fit.

If you're going to break established convention, you kinda have to make sure that the unconventional gift has some significance.

Otherwise, it's not cool...it's just weird.

[peace13]

5. It had her trip to the US on it.

Is that personal enough?

[MercutioATC]

7. Frankly, no, it's not.

There is no shortage of people who research heads of state. Find out what they actually like. Make it personal.

If the President of Brazil likes American football, give him a ball signed by the members of the most recent Superbowl winner.

You can obey protocol or you can make it personal...

...but you can't shop for foreign heads of state at Amazon.com.

[peace13]

17. Why do they need to give gifts, why do they need a frickin gift specialist?

So many people with their panties in a bunch about this. How I wish they cared half as much about something important. Obama should say, no gifts we are broke. Now that would be refreshing.

[ddeclue]

19. Apparently they DO need a gift specialist based on the track record..

maybe they are buying cheap gifts because we're broke and that's the new SOP at the state dept.

:shrug:

[MercutioATC]

21. It's kinda like bringing a bottle of wine when somebody invites you to dinner.

It's just the civilized thing to do.

We're not talking about expensive jewelry or cars...just small thoughtful gifts that will be appreciated.

[ddeclue]

23. Unless the Queen doesn't drink, a really high end bottle of California Vino would have actually been

a really excellent gift..

:)

[peace13]

3. It had the queens trip to the US on it, so it was personalized.

She likes Ipods and she gave him a picture of herself. It seems great, they each gave each other a picture of the queen. Don't spend one more minute on this. Obama has it covered!

[AnnieBW]

4. I still think that they should have given the Queen

a replica of Aretha's Inauguration hat!

[maddezmom]

8. now that would have been great

:D

[PA Democrat]

30. LOL! Now that would be an original gift!

[tridim]

6. Maybe it's time to end the gift thing for awhile.

The Royal Family can probably afford it, but nobody else can.

[ddeclue]

11. So the State Department's protocol people are shopping on a budget?

:shrug:

[FightingIrish]

9. People who are slamming this gift have never touched an iPod Touch

At risk of sounding like an Apple promoter, I really think too many people making these comments do not realize what a piece of art the Ipod Touch really is. It's so cool that it's fun to just to hold, even if it did nothing. It is far more than an MP3 player. I bought mine to replace a plain vanilla player I lost climbing a mountain. Everyday I learn of some new amazing thing it can do. I watch more television programs on my iPod than I do on the big screen TV. I ply it on my car radio and listen to it while I'k skiing or biking. I use it for email, web browsing, contacts, appointments, e-book reading, on line shopping and sharing pictures of the grandkids. I just added Skype so now I can use it to call my friends in Italy for free. It used to be that a watch was the perfect gift. Now I think it's the iPod. Engrave the polished stainless steel back and it is a very versatile keepsake.

[ddeclue]

12. Umm.. no... It's an Apple iPhone sans the phone...BWA HA HA

and yes I've had friends with iPhones and I am singularly unimpressed the battery life sucks and it's a crummy gift if you are a head of state.

:P

[MercutioATC]

14. My iPhone's battery life is fine.....

...and it's one of my two favorite toys ever. It's like carrying the world in your pocket.

[ddeclue]

15. not if you actually use it at all.. everyone I know complains about its battery life

and they even make an extra wrap around battery pack now so that it can have a half way decent battery life. Especially bad if wifi and/or bluetooth is turned on and used or if you use it to do a lot of websurfing or tune listening. A friend of mine bought one last year and has already switched back to the Blackberry because of battery life issues and slowness in getting her email pushed through.

[MercutioATC]

16. I dunno...I'm always using it (with 3G enabled) for surfing.

I don't use it for video, but I have it packed with MP3s.

If you compare its battery life to that of an ordinary cellphone, you're right...it doesn't last nearly as long. It does, however, last longer than a laptop...and it's more a micro-laptop than it is a phone.

The add-on auxiliary batteries, combined with either a car charger or a wall plug or a laptop with a USB port make it very versatile in terms of power...and it charges very quickly.

[ddeclue]

18. Then they should have marketed it as iTinyLaptop

:rofl:

The most basic functionality of an iPhone is supposed to be the PHONE part... I laughed when one of the latenight comedians made a joke about it the other night announcing that Skype was finally available for the iPhone.. that someone had finally figured out how to use the iPhone as a phone..

:rofl:

I'd much rather have a PHONE that works reliably wherever I am as a PHONE. I don't need it to be a camera, I don't need it to send text messages or play music or anything else. I need it to connect reliably and not drop calls no matter where I am. That's why I carry the Motorola World Phone from Verizon. it has excellent battery life and works both on CDMA and GSM systems in the US, Europe and many other places around the world. In CDMA mode it has proven to be highly reliable and have excellent battery life. Another advantage to it over iPhone is that batteries are removeable so that when they start getting old and not holding a charge any more I can replace them. For that matter I can carry spares in case I'm away from a charger source.

As for small computers, I recently got an Advent netbook 4211C at the duty free shop at Gattwick Airport on my way back from the UK in mid November, it's very small, has excellent battery life and it is far more flexible and easier to use than either a BB or an iPhone.

:P

[MercutioATC]

20. In my area, the coverage is good.

Not great, but good enough that I don't get dropped calls.

If I just wanted a phone, I'd get one of the free phones that comes with my wireless plan and be done with it. I like being to do everything from one device.

Yes, that requires compromises in things like battery life and price...but it depends on the user's priorities.


My point is that while the iPhone doesn't do some things as well as some people want it to, it fits some people's needs very well.

[ddeclue]

22. It's hardly everything that Apple said it was during ramp up marketing...

and I'd rather have a reliable phone with useful battery life. It's hardly the wonderful gift that someone here claimed it (or rather the stripped down version of it without the phone) was.

[MercutioATC]

25. That's changing with the 3.0 software update this summer...at least partially.

But yes, I agree that the hardware is capable of a lot more than Apple will actually write software for...and that's annoying.

Like I said, it's got more to do with the preferences of the user than the actual hardware. It's great as a phone (good sound quality and volume and if you turn off the wifi and internet, it has roughly the same battery life as most run-of-the-mill cellphones). In addition, if you're willing to sacrifice some battery it's a fantastic GPS and internet-enabled micro-laptop.

Opinions vary, but I think it's very cool.

[ddeclue]

28. Mehh.. I think Apple really needs to give all the 1.0 and 2.0 people

their money back, apologize and then pay them for being unwitting beta testers for a not ready for prime time product that was mostly hype and way too expensive (my friend paid $499 for hers!)

Blackberry is still a much better solution and a lot more enterprise ready than iPhone.

[MercutioATC]

31. Blackberry may have a better business-tailored product...

...but the iPhone definitely works better for a lot of people's needs.

As far as the 1.0 and 2.0 people, they're no different than any early-adopters. You pay the big bucks to have the technology first...and then it's quickly obsolete. Plenty of early Razor owners paid $200 or more for what's now a $40 phone...and my 3G iPhone will be replaced next year by a 4G that will be capable of a lot more. Such is the nature of technology.

[ddeclue]

33. I'm an engineer and often on the bleeding edge of toys

I paid $699 for a DirecTV receiver back in 1996 - I've paid fortunes for computers, DVD players, VCR's, TV's, etc, etc - that DTV receiver wouldn't even be 39 bucks today but sorry NO, the iPhone 1.0 and 2.0 people got screwed by poor hardware product and poor software oversold with too much hype. They deserve their money back.

[FightingIrish]

24. I can hardly see the queen grousing about the technical specs.

I don't think battery life or the lack of phone capability or GPS is an issue to the Queen of England. The question being asked is,"is it an appropriate gift?"

It has now been reported that it was a gift she requested. That would make it very appropriate. In addition to the videos of her trip to the U.S., it came loaded with forty Broadway show tunes, something she is very fond of. Would a bejeweled music box be an appropriate gift? Probably, but not a very useful one.

[MercutioATC]

26. If it was something that she wanted, THAT would make it personal.

If that's the case, it's a very appropriate gift.

[ddeclue]

29. What? Did the Queen feel sorry for America because we're broke and ask us for a cheap gift?

:shrug:

[ddeclue]

27. What's wrong with bringing an AMERICAN MADE gift to her Majesty?

How about a nice bottle of California Wine or Wisconsin Cheese or a horse from Kentucky (she loves horses), etc, etc? An iPod? I got my brother basically the same gift for Christmas and I was unemployed and he's not royalty.

:eyes:

[Metta]

10. I heard the dvds don't play on British systems which have different playback codes.

From MSNBC so I'm not sure if it's accurate.

[ddeclue]

13. Not 100% accurate... I'm sure that there are workarounds for this.

[MiniMe]

32. The ipod was pre-loaded with pics and video of her 1997 visit to the US

They also gave her a rare signed musical score. This is so not an issue.