According to the Washington Post, the incoming U.S. presidential administration has inherited quite the challenging IT environment: The White House.

President Obama's staff -- accustomed to Macs, social media, and having the latest equipment -- found Windows PCs with Microsoft Office 2003 in their new offices. Laptops were "scarce," apparently, and the team had trouble finding ways to update the redesigned White House website and add subtitles to web videos. Perhaps they were misled by the prominence of Mac hardware in the fictional-but-familiar West Wing version of the executive mansion.

Valleywag's Owen Thomas suggests that Obama's staff are "whiners." "Outside the Manhattan media bubble and Silicon Valley's startup cube farms, this is how most Americans work. Want a Macintosh? Sorry, IT hasn't approved it. Oh, you need to use Facebook to interact with customers? Sorry, that site's blocked -- and management suspects that 'social media' is a buzzword which means 'getting paid to waste time chatting with friends.'"

Part of the reason for the White House's legacy systems is related to the need to retain all computer records for the National Archives, and protect all kinds of communication (from emails to IMs to tweets) on the network for national security reasons. This task isn't impossible with a Mac -- some might say it's easier to accomplish with a Mac than with a PC -- but there will be a lot of sleepless nights for the White House's new IT staff while the new system is set up. Meanwhile, the tech-friendly new Commander in Chief appears to have won his first geek battle; he is going to get to keep his Blackberry [or something like it; Engadget clarifies that we don't know the details yet, but press secretary Robert Gibbs said it was indeed a BlackBerry during today's press briefing (his first) -Ed.] subject to a security overhaul by an unnamed federal agency (assumed to be the NSA).

With the new administration's focus on change, it seems as though a new tech infrastructure and business rules for the executive office of the President are in the cards. It remains to be seen if our favorite platform, though, makes the cut.

Thanks to Michael and Joe for sending this in.

Second Update: You can also use the free SHOUTcast Radio [App Store link] to listen to WTOP for Inauguration Day coverage on your iPhone or iPod touch. The stream works great with EDGE, 3G, and WiFi. (SHOUTcast is published by AOL, the parent company of this blog.)

Update: Late word is that the Ustream video viewer has made it to the App Store today, so you might be able to stream the inaugural coverage after all. We're downloading it now and will have a full review up tomorrow morning. Joost is also planning to stream the CBS coverage, so that should work on your iPhone as well.

Among the hundreds of thousands of celebrants descending on Washington, D.C. for tomorrow's big day, there must be at least a few iPhone owners. What might they find in the App Store, we wonder, to improve the visit?

The Inauguration Guide iPhone app (all app links open iTunes), developed by PointAbout and sponsored by a D.C. law firm and communications consultancy, aims to give visitors to the District everything they need to find their way around the city in the midst of the crowds and commotion. Although the front screen of the app is a simple countdown and distance-to-the-Capitol readout, the data gallery includes parking, public transport and restaurant info. The app is free, so it's certainly worth adding to your toolbelt if you're attending the festivities.

If you already know your way around but you'd like an easy tool to relay your experiences, the Inauguration Report app (also free) might be your ticket. You can send your impressions in text, picture or audio form to the coverage team at CBS News and NPR for possible inclusion in the reporting of the event.

For $0.99 each, you could pick up a guide to the inaugural event schedule, a comprehensive photo and speech gallery or a countdown clock that includes press coverage and citations from the US Constitution (awful handy). Still don't have a place to sleep? It's probably far too late to make a difference, but the free Crash the Inauguration app provides links to room listings, places to eat, video links and more. If you want a pocket reference to the country at large, you've got a $2.99 option with America Deluxe, a reference app that promises rapid updates immediately after the inauguration is complete.

While you've got a full range of options for audio coverage of the inauguration on your iPhone (NPR Mobile, Public Radio Tuner, TalkRadio, moodio.fm), video is a bit more challenging -- many sites are streaming, but few if any will work for your handheld. The official YouTube channel will work, but that won't have live feeds. The recently TechCrunch'ed/pre-announced uStream app for the iPhone isn't in the store yet (you can send in a request for an ad-hoc build, but they're probably well past the 100-device limit by now), although it looks very tempting. [See update above.]

Comments report that Joost will offer streaming of the ceremonies, and there's a page up on the site for the stream. The SlingPlayer app for iPhone is still a month or two away, so for live TV -- if you happen to have a Windows PC with the Orb tuner card -- you're looking at the $9.99 OrbLive app for streaming some C-SPAN to your spot on the National Mall.

Got your iPhone in Washington? Send a tweet our way and let us know how the 3G coverage holds up from your iPhone. Oh, and don't forget to take a few pictures.

We generally try to stay away from politics here at TUAW, but this week, some controversy erupted when a Philadelphia news photographer saw Barack Obama at the gym with -- gasp! -- a Microsoft Zune music player. PC World even went so far as to call it "ZuneGate."

Well, rest assured that an Obama spokeswoman felt it necessary, for some reason, to say yesterday that the president-elect typically uses an iPod, and she didn't know where the Zune came from.

This is so many kinds of disturbing that I don't know where to start.

Let's start with the reaction. People came out on both sides of the issue: some were happy that the president-elect, who built a campaign for change from the ground up, used a Zune because it reflected his desire to set himself apart from the status quo. iPod users were sad, because, well, Obama didn't buy the same thing they did. Cry me a Rio.

In what could be a sign of things to come, an unnamed staffer Biden's son Hunter (thanks commenters) was pictured on Election Night showing Vice President-Elect Joe Biden something on a MacBook Air. Biden also appears to be holding an iPhone 3G with a sticker on the back.

Biden was apparently observing something on screen, while President-Elect Barack Obama celebrated in the background with another staffer. The MacBook Air appeared to be connected to a USB 3G network adapter.

The Obama administration could become the most technologically-savvy presidency so far. The President-Elect's transition team has already put up change.gov, a website developed by Blue State Digital, the same firm that created Obama's campaign website. Obama's administration promises to be the first to include a Chief Technology Officer, and he supports net neutrality.

Obama has been photographed during his campaign using an iPhone. A Newsweek article in Feburary noted that Michelle Obama bought then-Senator Obama and their children each a MacBook, so they could stay in touch during the long campaign.

Yes, we can add the team to the growing list of world leaders using Apple products.

Thanks, Brian!

Editor's Note: Political discourse can sometimes get heated, and that's understandable, but there are some boundaries. Multiple comments to this post have made threatening statements against the President-Elect. Any comments of this nature will be deleted and identifying information will be provided to the US Secret Service.

We're officially a nonpartisan bunch here at TUAW (actually, quite partisan, but only for the Mac) but the announcement of an official iPhone application from the Obama campaign is still worthy of mention. Several high-profile iPhone devs & designers were involved in the project, including formerly-of-Tapulous Mike Lee, Louie Mantia and Tristan O'Tierney. Raven Zachary led the team that included Jonathan Wight and more, all volunteering to rush the app to completion.

In addition to the obvious-but-cool features of the app (download news from the campaign, watch YouTube videos of speeches and endorsements), there is quite a bit of iPhone special sauce. Location awareness means you can see local events or find your nearest campaign office; a 'Call Friends' tool sorts your address book by priority, putting your contacts living in battleground states at the top of the list and letting you reach out to them with a single tap. Very sleek!

Even though there isn't an official McCain campaign application for the iPhone, the App Store has plenty of election-themed apps for voters of either the red or blue persuasion. However you plan to make your voice heard this year, let us give you a gentle reminder that if you're an American citizen over 18, you need to make certain that you're registered to vote.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in.

Doesn't matter whether you're a Republicrat or a Demublican, or if you're blue, red, or purple. If you've got an interest in World Events, the US iTunes stores has all the speeches from the recent American conventions -- from both sides of the aisle.

The speeches and video highlights are free and available as podcasts for your delectation (and bonus raised blood pressure, where applicable).

Pretty much everyone wants the same good things for the US and the world. Let these speeches help you decide which side can get you there.

Thanks, Gordon Werner