Former U.S. President Bill Clinton appeared at CES in Las Vegas today to deliver powerful remarks on mobile technologies and how the developing world is aided by their development.
Appearing with Samsung on stage, President Clinton — who serves as brand ambassador for the Samsung Hope for Children program – praised the evolution of technology in the world and how it is helping millions in ways most may not realize.
“Technology can help overcome challenges that are not even economic,” the nation’s 42nd president observed. “I’ve been backstage looking at all the new devices, and I was reminded that when I was president, the average cellphone weighed 5 pounds.”
Here’s another sobering stat.
“The day I took the Oath of Office,” Mr. Clinton recalled, “a grand total of 50 sites were on the Internet. More have been added since I started talking.”
But the former President used his time to draw attention where the U.S. can improve upon its position in the tech world, specifically by improving computer download speeds – a race that South Korea is presently winning.
“Our speeds are one-fourth of theirs, and we have fallen off the map… Think about all the basic things we are taking for granted,” Clinton said. “If the screen went dark or the microphone failed … if you get bored from my speech, you can get water — but I have spent time in part of the world where you can’t do that. Mobile technology is doing so much now to lift the poor.”
