As a student he quit coke.

During the primaries he gave up smoking.

But there's one habit the President-elect can't kick: CrackBerry.

In an interview screening today with Barbara Walters on US network ABC, Barack Obama says he wants to take his beloved smartphone to the Whitehouse, breaking a long-time ban on Presidential emailing.

In an advance transcript, Obama tells Walters that the Secret Service,  lawyers and Whitehouse staff are all being consulted as part of his effort to install his BlackBerry in the oval office.

No president has ever been allowed to email from a laptop, or BlackBerry or any other device. Partly because there are security concerns once the Prez starts electronic messaging through form or informal channels (witness the hacks of Sarah Palin's account during the Yahoo campaign). But more due to Whitehouse legal concerns over Congress's power to subpoena any presidential document, including email - which by its less formal nature could well prove a treasure trove of politically embarrassing titbits, too.

Transcripts of the Walters interview released by ABC show Obama with no self-recognition of his email addiction (already chronicled on this site; see "5 signs the president elect has a CrackBerry problem") or taking any notice of the initial wave of stories about the BlackBerry ban.

Now he's the boss, he's doing everything he can to keep his BlackBerry holstered to his hip.

Obama says he wants to "break through the bubble of isolation that exists around the president ... I'm negotiating to figure out how can I get information from outside of the 10 or 12 people who surround my office in the White House".

Walters failed to quizz Obama on why he preferred the BlackBerry (made by Canada's Research in Motion) over the all-American Apple iPhone.

Storm downgraded to a depression
Meanwhile, while I wait for my BlackBerry Storm to arrive at NBR Towers (it's now due some time next week; NZ release is December 1; details here), a couple more overseas reviews of RIM's first touchscreen phone have rolled in.

Last Friday, we had Wired.com comparing the apparently slow-moving Storm software to "a tranquilised yak" (see First reviews rain on RIM's parade).

Now, the New York Times downgrades the Storm to a depression, labelling it the "BlackBerry Dud". It rails against the lack of physical keys with "a BlackBerry without a keyboard is like an iPod without a scroll wheel or a Prius with terrible mileage" (see No Keyboard? And You Call This a BlackBerry).

The US edition of Computerworld is more enthusiastic, saying it might not be as “cool and fun” as the iPhone, but that the Storm’s screen was “beautiful” and its ability to edit Microsoft Office documents, plus BlackBerry’s famed push email, probably makes it a better bet for business.