Yesterday's State of The Union Catered to Geeks, Not Couch Potatoes

Barack Obama, the President of the United States, delivered the 2011 State of the Union yesterday, Tuesday January 25, at at 9pm Eastern, 6pm Pacific.

As an one-hour long speech unfolded on prime time television, geeks and web-savvy viewers were able to follow an enhanced presentation to go along with the speech in real-time, at the section of the White House's official site dedicated to the State of the Union speech.

The site reads:

For the first time ever, and only on WhiteHouse.gov, Americans can choose an enhanced viewing experience for the President's State of the Union Address.

Specifically, folks were able to check out handy charts and illustrations that accompanied President's address and that otherwise wasn't part of the nationwide television broadcast. Other perks included a Q&A session with White House staffers following the airing.

A number of administration officials are scheduled to post answers to people's questions in the three days following the speech, including Vice President Biden, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs and President Obama himself. This should provide for an interesting break from the previous State of the Union speeches that were optimized for passive viewing on your tube.

This administration is therefore continuing to exploit the President's love for technology in positive ways. If you ask me, it can only be a good thing that the United States finally has a geeky President, wouldn't you agree?