The BlackBerry compact of '09

Reporting from Washington — OMG. POTUS keeps his BB.

After facing down his top security advisors, President Obama won the right Thursday to be the BlackBerry user-in-chief.

Under an arrangement with security aides, Obama will get a new BlackBerry loaded with software approved by U.S. intelligence officials that lets him communicate with friends, family and close associates without fear of hackers reading his e-mail.

Obama's decision to keep the device underscores his devotion to technology in the face of such issues as public access to presidential correspondence.

Former President George W. Bush gave up personal e-mail upon entering office, fearing he would create a public record with every touch of the "send" button. Bill Clinton has been reported to avoid e-mail even today.

"With all due respect to Presidents Clinton and Bush, they didn't really grow up with these mobile devices," said Roger Entner, a telecommunications analyst with the Nielsen Company. "President Obama is like so many others of his generation: This is the device that helps determine how he perceives the rest of the world."

In that sense, e-mail could preserve for Obama some of what his job automatically precludes: direct contact with the workaday world. He has been adamant about keeping that link, telling news outlets this month: "I'm still clinging to my BlackBerry. They're going to pry it out of my hands."

Even if he won't be scanning his own groceries or buying his own milk -- former President George H.W. Bush was portrayed as out of touch with those markers of American life -- he may be in casual contact with friends who are.

And he'll be doing so as millions of other Americans do, by way of thumbs on a keypad.

While the White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs, told reporters that Obama would be keeping his BlackBerry, experts speculated that security concerns might force the president to adopt another brand of smart phone, such as those used by intelligence agencies.

BlackBerrys, often called CrackBerrys because of the addictive tendencies they unleash in legions of fans, run on a closed network with an encryption function. About 21,000 FBI agents and employees use BlackBerrys to share sensitive, but unclassified, information.

Still, hackers can plant malicious software on a BlackBerry from afar. One existing piece of software can transform the device into a miniature radio transmitter, allowing eavesdroppers to hear conversations near it.