Obama’s tech-savvy staff finds White House is anything but

After running the most tech-savvy presidential campaign in U.S. history, Barack Obama’s team moved into the White House to find outdated computer software, disconnected phones, and security regulations barring everything from Facebook to outside email log-ins. The team, which used Macs throughout the campaign, found their new workspace outfitted with clunky desktops with Microsoft software outdated by six years. One aide’s transition cellphone was disconnected, forcing him to tell callers to dial his wife’s phone, and calls to the White House switchboard prompted a recording instructing callers to the presidential website. At least there were no missing letters on computer keyboards, the Post notes, as was the case when the Bush team moved in, in 2001.

The Washington Post