Tech Report: President Obama In A Google+ 'Hangout'
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) — President Barack Obama held an online town hall meeting on Google+'s new 'Hangout' feature and YouTube Monday. The tech-oriented forum was a unique way for the president to engage and answer questions from a few people.
KCBS' Technology Analyst Larry Magid monitored the situation and noted little to no tech glitches and said that most importantly, ordinary people could participate by logging in and looking into their webcams.
KCBS' Technology Analyst Larry Magid:
The president called the latest format a "new-fangled thing", but it Magid said it went "surprisingly well".
The Hangout had five people interacting live with President Obama; sometimes they'd speak over each other just as it might happen in person.
Magid said the president fielded some pre-recorded questions off of YouTube and that it seemed unrehearsed in the sense that the president didn't seem to know what was coming.
"From a technological standpoint, it's remarkable that that's possible to do today," Magid said.
President Obama had previously demonstrated a willingness to remain technologically relevant when he visited Facebook in 2011 to answer questions, but the difference here was the live video chat session.
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