As one may have read elsewhere, President Obama in a speech to the graduating underclass of Hampton University, sparred a few words that shocked loyal techies and gamers. The president bashed on the Playstations and iPads. Instead of crying foul and murmuring "from my dead cold hands" lets look at some key topics.

Irony is thick from all angles, but let us start with Obama's words from the graduation. First, are his words being taken out of context? The president was speaking at a graduation giving a commencement speech.  These speeches often resort to be an inspirational message as the graduates embark on a new journey in their new path of life. We attend every year, is it only now we pay attention to what speaker says?

Image courtesy of AP

Two examples in my past come quickly to mind. At my SJSU graduation our speaker spoke on how he hires exclusively graduates from San Jose State instead of alumni from Stanford or Berkeley. The reason for his preference was one of the hard work ethic of Spartans. He uses the example of many SJSU students, myself included, who would during the college years work as well as attend class.

We were go-getters, whereas Cal Bears and whatever mascot Stanford now uses (tree?), in his opinion, felt entitled. Our speaker's words were inspiring, but if he had said those words elsewhere he may have caught some undeserved flak.

At another commencement speech in Berkeley (sister's), former Governor Jerry Brown had harsh words for the new San Francisco to Oakland Bay Bridge. He asked what has happen to civic pride in city architecture and for the graduates to evoke pride in their community and anywhere their travels will take.

Image courtesy of Hampton University

The American press is however infatuated with President Obama's every word. It is irony that the same technology he criticized was the method that everyone in the media and their readers got notion that the tech-savvy president has never held an iPad. Yet one of his major points is the flood of misinformation that technology enables. In his words, "information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment rather than a tool of empowerment, rather than he means of emancipation."

President Obama's main theme of the speech is education. He touches on multiple stories of education, even quoting Fredrick Douglass,"education means emancipation." Obama does not necessarily mean technology enslaves, he only touches on the idea of technology should free people, rather than distract and divert from the truth.

But the message is clear, an education is key to your future and the dependence on technology can only be hampering to one's growth. The key point missed on everyone, technology enslave us if one allows it too. How many of the readers rely on spell check on their word processors and smart-phones? And how often we turn it off?

Then again, Obama was the president who revamped the White House website, added a Technology Secretary to his Cabinet and uses a smart-phone for work. Not too bad, for someone who has never used an iPad.

To another layer, thick of irony, the US armed forces and the Pentagon are spending $6 billion on virtual training technologies (think America's Army) each year. Guess who is the Armed Forces boss?