President Barack Obama has consistently embraced new technologies during his presidency. Shortly after he was sworn into office in 2009, The Guardian declared that he was "likely to become America's first emailing president." He has called for the government to invest in researching artificial intelligence and toyed with virtual reality technology.
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Neither Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton nor her Republican rival, Donald Trump, are known for their use of technology.
In an interview Friday on NPR's "This American Life," Politico reporter Garrett Graff detailed how Clinton's lack of tech awareness led her to store emails on a private server during her time as secretary of state, as evidenced by documents released by the FBI during its investigation into her use of the server. The controversial decision has dogged the Clinton campaign.
"I think a lot of us thought that this was done out of sophistication -- that it was done out of this very advanced, Machiavellian understanding of federal records laws and advanced knowledge of computer technology," Graff said. "But by the time the FBI got done with all of these interviews, it becomes really clear it was actually done out of technological ignorance."
He wrote in a September article for Politico, "According to multiple aides, (she has) never even learned how to use a desktop computer."
A Clinton aide quoted in FBI documents told investigators that Clinton often asked those around her for tech help and "likened it to your parents asking for technical help with their phone or computer."
Evidence appears to show that Trump is uncomfortable with technology, despite his use of social media.
In a 2006 news release announcing the launch of GoTrump.com, a now-defunct travel website, the then-59-year-old business mogul announced that he had also created "his first-ever email address."
In a 2007 deposition obtained by The New York Times, Trump said he didn't own a computer, but instead had his secretary type letters on his behalf.
"I don't do the email thing," he said.
By 2013, Trump had upgraded to using email "very rarely."
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