I found it fairly interesting that he'd be the first president to have a laptop on his desk, and the first to use email.

That's not really correct. There's still no word on whether he'll be allowed to send and receive emails directly during his term(s) as president. The chances are that the risks will be considered too high to permit it.

If that happens, he'll be in the same position as George W. Bush, who was a fairly prolific emailer before becoming president but was not permitted to use the technology directly while in office.

As an aside, it may not always be a good thing. South Africa's former president Thabo Mbeki was quite well known for having a computer at his desk and a personal email account while in office. Unfortunately, he tended to use his to research crank AIDS activists online, write raving and offensive weekly newsletters on his party's official website and send off diplomatically-unsound emails to newspapers, unpopular researchers and other world leaders. Perhaps it is better to keep a president isolated to some extent.

You say that like seeing your leader's true inclinations is a bad thing.

I was speaking from the perspective of a president's staff.

As a voter, sure. Let them communicate with us directly so we can see who they truly are. Mbeki was recalled before his term was done, in part in response to his perceived arrogance and crazy ideas, both exposed in part through his personal communication to the electorate.