Obama uses iPhone to win support

"Making a difference takes only moments using the Call a Friend feature. Want to do more? Find your local Obama for America HQ or look up local campaign events."


The Obama campaign is using the power of the iPhone to win the support and become the next president of the United States. Toward that endeavor the Obama website is featuring an official Obama 08′ application for the iPhone or iPod Touch. The application can be downloaded through the App Store on iTunes.


The free application includes a lot of features which allows supporters to help “get the vote out”. The features include the ability to call your friends prioritized by key battleground states. If you are support Obama, the application will also get you quick access to the plan Barack Obama and Joe Biden have when it comes to addressing the issues facing America.


The application will also feature access to news, local events and media in regards to the Obama campaign. The Obama campaign has even put a little competitive spirit into the application. Users will be able to see how their call totals compare to other leading callers.


You’ve got to hand it to the folks running the Obama campaign. This is a handy little way to motivate and organize volunteers to get the word out about Obama. Geeks who are on the fence about the presidential race may find themselves leaning toward Obama now because clearly the man knows how to utilize technology to reach his goals.


According to Wendland, Obama’s camp has created a free application that’s designed to help rally support for the senator’s cause. “While there are various election countdowns, political blog posts and applications that track the latest survey data, the Obama ‘08 application that became available for a free download this week was programmed by Obama volunteers and feeds news reports, videos, campaign talking points and photos to the device,” Wendland writes today in his column. “There’s even a Local Events feature that uses the iPhone’s built-in GPS capabilities to return a list of campaign appearances and rallies in the user’s area. The Call Friends feature is geared for those in swing states and helps them do volunteer get-out-the-vote calls aimed at increasing support for Obama.”


We all hear, time and time again, how mobile is the next big thing. Wouldn’t it be nice if that big thing were happening arounf the world? I think it would. And I think it has the potential to happen.



Reference Lists:

1. Dinan, M 2008, Obama Creates iPhone Application to Stir Campaign Support, viewed on 16 June 2009, http://election-2008.tmcnet.com/
   
2. Osborne, B 2008, Obama campaign uses iPhone app to organize, viewed on 16 June 2009, http://www.geek.com/
   
3. Shiels, M 2008, Obama uses iPhone to win support, BBC News, Silicon Valley, http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/technology/7649753.stm
   
4. Image resource : http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/iphone