Hillary and Obama Can’t Imagine Life Without BlackBerry

“Hillary always checks her BlackBerry round the clock. On her way to campaign rally in a car, she sends and receives e-mail with Chelsea to discuss dinner menu for guests during the weekends.”

In a recent interview, former U.S. President Bill Clinton said BlackBerry has become indispensable for Hillary, when asked, “What is her must item that she never leaves home without?”

BlackBerry is a wireless handheld device which supports e-mail, text messaging, and other wireless information services.

In fact, it is not rare to see the New York senator and former first lady on the campaign trail using the device, watching the flat screen in her hands.

This is similar for other candidates. The first thing Senator Barack Obama does when he gets off his personal charter flight and changes to a car heading for a rally is checking his e-mails from his campaign aides in Chicago.

With Super Tuesday just two days away, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, who is running for president from the Republican side, exchanged encouragement through e-mails on BlackBerry with New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady who is preparing for Super Bowl.

Such wireless e-mail devices have become a necessity among U.S. diplomats. Christopher Hill, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, frequently checks his handheld device at almost one-minute interval while having a meeting with his counterparts over North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.

A source at the South Korean Embassy to the U.S., said, “Without exception, every senior official of the state department is holding a BlackBerry phone. I felt the wireless device has dominated the U.S. foreign policy circles.”

The wireless gadget left a strong impression among U.S. citizens when a massive scale blackout hit the North America in 2003, paralyzing the wired Internet network. Right after the 9.11 terrorist attacks in 2001, President Bush reportedly made instructions to major government officials through BlackBerry.

An estimated 8 million subscribers in about 60 countries worldwide are using BlackBerry, but it is not available in Korea due to the difference in the communication system.

triplets@donga.com