Thursday, April 23, 2009

The Rise of the Machines

SF Mayor Gavin Newsom has officially announced that he is runnning for the Democratic nomination for governor. Newsom Declares for governor in High Tech Style
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom formally declared his 2010 campaign for
California governor Tuesday with a tech-savvy approach - simultaneous
announcements on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube - and a message of "generational" change aimed at the influential young "millennial" voters who helped elect President Obama.

I don't want to comment on Newsom's prospects now. But, spare me the puffery about his "tech savvy" approach. Making announcements via Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube is not "tech savvy" - did Newsom set up his accounts on these services? Maybe, but it's not hard - it's media savvy. Media savvy politicos are a dime a dozen, and that's what Newsom is. There's no disgrace in that, but the idea that he has some special "tech" insight is at odds with reality. Newsom has been a restauranter and politician. Those are his areas of expertise. He has never exhibited any special insights about "tech" beyond making use of services created by others. Why do I feel like we are never going to stop hearing about this supposed "tech savvy" as a major selling point?

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