• Austin American-Statesman/Bloomberg News, Monday, January 19, 2009 11 AM

In the way that president Bill Clinton gave a boost to McDonald's and Ronald Reagan doubled jelly bean sales, President-elect Barack Obama has given a boost to Research in Motion's BlackBerry with such pronouncements as "they're going to pry it out of my hands."

"They" -- the Secret Service - may do so once Obama takes office. "The moment it becomes known that Barack Obama uses his BlackBerry 8830 World Edition, you know that a significant share of Russia's signal intelligence and China's signal intelligence and cyberintelligence budgets will be targeted to break it," says Roger Entner, an analyst with Nielsen Co. Campaign manager David Plouffe says he's not sure whether Obama will be allowed to keep his BlackBerry, but that he'll find a way to keep e-mailing. "He does live his life through technology," he says.

Laura Ries, president of Ries & Ries tells Crayton Harrison that it would be a boon for RIM, which isn't talking, if Obama winds up keeping his device. "How often does a president get photographed? Every five minutes," she answers. "The potential of him being in a photo using a BlackBerry in all likelihood is incredibly high. That would be very powerful."

Read the whole story at Austin American-Statesman/Bloomberg News »