President Obama says he’s not allowed to use an iPhone

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US President Barack Obama has been photographed, on a number of occasions, using an iPad. He says he loves the tablet, and was actually given a second generation model days before it was announced, by Steve Jobs himself.

But it looks like that’s where Obama’s Apple gadget usage stops. During an Obamacare speech he gave yesterday to a youth audience attending a White House Summit, the President said he isn’t allowed to have an iPhone…

Here’s part of the speech via ABC News (sorry, it’s in Flash):

“Now, I am not allowed for security reasons to have an iPhone. I don’t know what your bills are. I’ve noticed that Sasha and Malia seem to spend a lot of time on it. My suspicion is that, for a lot of you, between your cable bill and your phone bill, you’re spending more than $100 per month.”

While Obama’s remark was obviously meant to be a quip, it has sparked a conversation in the tech world about mobile platform security. After all, the President is allowed to use a custom version of one of BlackBerry’s handsets.

Interestingly enough, many other US government agencies have already ditched their BlackBerrys, or are in the process of doing so, in favor of Apple’s smartphone. More secure or not, the company is bleeding enterprise customers.

As for Mr. Obama, his involvement in the tech community extends much further than gadget usage. Earlier this year, he vetoed an ITC sales ban on Apple products, and he’s currently fighting (or says he is) for a new unlocking policy.