U.S. President Barack Obama is holding on tight to his BlackBerry despite initiatives of the White House Communications Agency (WHCA) to replace it with a new smartphone that has strong communications capabilities.
The WHCA is a department under the U.S. Department of Defense's (DoD) combat support agency, Defense Information System Agency (DISA). It renders and maintains the efficiency and stability of the U.S. president's communication system all the time, especially when there is an emergency or when the president is visiting other nations.
The agency has significant contributions in many past events in the United States, such as during World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War, Operations Desert Storm and Dessert Shield, Operation Restore hope in Somalia, and Operation Just Cause in Panama. It also played a significant role in the documentation of the tragic death of President John F. Kennedy.
To fulfill its purpose, the agency must make sure that the president's communication gadgets are up-to-date and working well with the current different services.
However, regardless of constant reminders, the president is not cooperating with WHCA's pilot program that would move them away to BlackBerry smartphones, said Jay Carney, a spokesperson for the White House, to Kansas City Star. Obama seems to suffer a "separation anxiety" with his BlackBerry.
The WHCA is moving away to the once-dominant smartphoneBlackBerry, as it has been overthrown by other smartphone industry favorites like Apple's iPhone and Google's Android phones.
BlackBerry Ltd., a Canadian telecommunication and wireless equipment company, was once the leader in the smartphone industry. It has been the device-of-choice of many corporate customers. However, due to its growing rivalry from competitors like Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co., it is now struggling to remain competitive in the market.
Six months ago, the company admitted that it was going through rough times but working hard to carry on withtthe business.
"These are no doubt challenging times for us and we don't underestimate the situation or ignore the challenges," it said in a letter to BBC News. "We are making the difficult changes necessary to strengthen BlackBerry."
