I finally got around to renting "The West Wing" on Netflix last week. And because I work where I do, the first thing I noticed was that all the characters were using beepers, antiquated cell phones with antennas, and clunky laptops. But while the staffers were juggling multiple pre-BlackBerry electronic devices, the president had nothing but a cane and witty comebacks for lobbyists.

In the real world, security reasons have prevented the U.S. President from using the latest tech gadgets for day-to-day activities--but given that President-Elect Obama relied so heavily on the Internet during his campaign and is reportedly addicted to his BlackBerry, will he also relinquish his electronic devices come January?

That remains to be seen, but given that all presidential correspondence must be made public under the Presidential Records Act, the New York Times reported that Obama will probably hand over the BlackBerry lest his electronic legacy include LOLCat forwards and grammatically challenged text messages. Perhaps Google can develop a presidential version of its Mail Goggles?

When President Bush was elected in 2000, he sent an e-mail from his AOL account to friends informing them that he would no longer correspond electronically, and Obama will likely follow suit.

Obama staffers did concede, however, that Obama wants a laptop in the Oval Office. If he gets his way, he would be the first American president to have one.

But will it be a Mac or a PC? Michelle Obama told Newsweek in February that she purchased two Macbook laptops for the President-elect and the children so they could use the iChat function to keep in touch while Obama was on the road.

There might be another reason to for to abandon cell phones and laptops and PDAs - technology snobs. Though Obama is known to have his BlackBerry with him at all times, he made headlines after being photographed fiddling with an iPhone, and chastised for using a Motorola Razr. Seems like a lose-lose situation regardless of his choice.

But while Obama might have to give up his gadgets, his administration will not likely shy away from technology. During election season, the campaign raised millions via online donations and allowed supporters to create their own virtual support sites via mybarackobama.com.

After the election, Obama's team released election night photos on Flickr, launched change.gov to provide updates on the transition, and created a YouTube channel on which Obama will provide video updates about his administration.

On the policy side, Obama has also pledged to increase federal R&D spending, make government more open and transparent via the Internet, preserve Net neutrality, and work to provide broadband access to more underserved communities.