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Technology Donald Trump

Technophobe Trump goes analogue in ‘What is digital?’ Time interview

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By John Glenday, Reporter

May 12, 2017 | 3 min read

Donald Trump has let slip his technophobia in an interview with Time magazine in which the pugilistic president confessed to having no understanding of the concept of digital, despite calling the shots on the world’s largest military budget.

Donald Trump

Technophobe Trump goes analogue in ‘What is digital?’ Time interview

Recalling a conversation with one naval officer in regards to a new Electromagnetic Aircraft Launching System, Trump sounded distinctly unimpressed by the hi-tech solution, hankering instead after good old-fashioned steam.

Trump said: “It sounded bad to me. Digital. They have digital. What is digital? And it’s very complicated, you have to be Albert Einstein to figure it out. And I said — and now they want to buy more aircraft carriers. I said what system are you going to be— ‘Sir, we’re staying with digital.’ I said no you’re not.

"You going to goddamned steam, the digital costs hundreds of millions of dollars more money and it’s no good.”

Military experts weren’t slow to ridicule these sentiments however, with many pointing out that it would actually be more expensive to rip out already built and planned systems to install the cheaper variant.

Perhaps more alarming is a technology-averse commander in chief amidst reports that Trump refuses to use email, relying instead on fax messages, phone calls and (of course) tweets – a skill set which might not be up to the job of protecting America in a world rife with cyber security threats.

Despite these shortcomings Trump is pressing ahead with plans for a June technology summit to discuss plans to overhaul the US government.

Technology Donald Trump

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