Barack Obama faces a host of challenges when he assumes the Oval Office later this month, but the hardest personally for the president-elect might just be relinquishing his cherished BlackBerry.

For years, like legions of other professionals, Mr. Obama has been all but addicted to his BlackBerry. The device has rarely been far from his side — on most days, it was fastened to his belt — to provide a singular conduit to the outside world as the bubble around him grew tighter and tighter throughout his campaign.

President-elect Obama has yet to relent, but conceded that he may be losing the battle.

“I’m still clinging to my BlackBerry. They’re going to pry it out of my hands.”

But the Secret Service, as well as Obama lawyers, are concerned it could easily be hacked and are demanding the new president hand over the BlackBerry before he moves into the White House. The Secret Service also made President Bush give up e-mail when he assumed the presidency, and former President Clinton, during whose term e-mail became widely-used, sent a grand total of two e-mails while president.

Nevertheless, aides to the president-elect said he hopes to be the first president ever to have a laptop at the ready on the historic Oval Office desk.

But Obama says his BlackBerry has been a great way to stay in touch with his hectic schedule. “I’ve got to look for every opportunity to do that – ways that aren’t scripted, ways that aren’t controlled, ways where, you know, people aren’t just complimenting you or standing up when you enter into a room, ways of staying grounded,” he said.

Here is my hope: he shuns the naysayers and keeps the thing! You don’t need to be a computer lover to see that smooth information flow might be a help in tackling the complexity of the financial crisis, Iraq, Afghanistan, education, and health care. Tech policy starts at the top. Obama should set a precedent by having the ‘Berry at his side: Here is a government that is accessible, capable, and efficient. Plus, let’s be honest, a man’s gotta have it for all those long, boring meetings. Am I right?