Jaffe Juice

Have you heard about Paul English. Check out his blog and especially his IVR Cheat Sheet (getting quite a bit of press), which details the quickest way to get hold of a human being at your favorite corporations and brands.

Is it conceivable that the ability for the blogosphere to embrace this...add to it...and disseminate it...could bring these automated pieces of time-invaders to their knees? If you agree, press 1 and if you disagree, press 2. To continue in English, press 3.

Happening right now in New York City. Check out the oodles of video content. Here's one with me and my buddy, Les. (Consumers take greater control)

Yesterday, Adweek IQ reported that web video advertising would double over the next 2 years (thru 2007) and this morning, the IAB released it's video guidelines for pre and mid roll advertising (MediaPost reports)

The remote control was introduced in 1955 and I feel like this announcement puts us somewhere circa that time. The convenient cap is at 30-seconds (gee, where have I seen that arbitrary constraint before...let me get back to you on that one)

The guidelines state:

...at a minimum, viewers should be able to start and stop the ads and adjust the volume. The guidelines also say it's "recommended and acceptable" to give users the ability to fast-forward, rewind, pause, and zoom during the ads--but also state that the fast-forward button need not be enabled while the ad is playing.

I'm a little confused, as the article also reports that the committee (largely publisher and supposedly advertiser comprised) felt that a fast-forward button was not a viable option. Well, which one is it?

Where is the ability to extend viewing (commercials frozen in time I call it)? Where is the non-linear consumption opportunities? Where is the interactivity component? Where are suggested and evolved pricing guidelines that build in engagement, time spent and interactivity?

What kind of standards are we talking about when a) there does appear to be clarity on issues like fast-forwarding AND the so-called standard being offered is nothing more than a lowest-common-denominator plonk TV online and watch the cash roll in?

Pitiful.

PS IAB - considering some turn to me for creative guidance and opinion, you might want to think about involving people like me in your esoteric agenda-setting sessions. And if not as an independent and objective counsel, at least think about reaching out and engaging the bloggers/blogosphere...you of all entities should know better.

Juice to go Podcast: Check out Amex's new campaign "My wishlist" which quite frankly left me wishing it would just go away.

Download my_amex_wishlist.mp3

PS You can subscribe to Jaffe Juice (Juice to Go) on iTunes

Just saw an interesting clip on CNN in the Crown Room Lounge at JFK about the FCC (hope I got that right) pushing the cable companies to offer ala carte pricing on channels they offer. This way, consumers only pay for what they want.

Not surprisingly, the cable companies are pushing back saying that pricing on individual channels would shoot up say for families with kids who would now have to pay a large amount of moolah for NickJr/Cartoon Network etc. But isn't this a blatent admission that families without kids are footing the default bill in the process?

Thoughts?

I often talk about the need to move from a top-down budget setting agenda and methodology to a bottom-up approach.

Church of the Customer blog (courtesy of a Bastiaan shout out) posts the encouraging news via Carl Howe at Blackfriars Communications that non-traditional marketing now makes up about 14% of marketing budgets (the third highest category)

I'd certainly like to find out more about Carl's methodology/base for this assertion. What are the other two categories (besides "traditional")? Carl?

Chris Thilk over at AdJab, this one's for you! If you thought I was dancing before, now I'm fully doing the Macarena (and it looks a little awkward I might add) As reported in Ad Age, "Gap's celebrity-endorser marketing strategy bombs."

This is one giant, steaming "I TOLD YOU SO" as blogged here (March 25) and here and here.

To think, if the folks over at Gap and their agency had just read Jaffe Juice, they could have literally saved tens of millions of dollars. Oh well, no biggie...there's always the 2006 Budget to draw from. Until then, don't choke on your eggnog as you try and justify why and how you flushed your shareholder's money down the toilet.

Steve and I took a slight break this week due to the Thanksgiving holiday. Due to the fact show #11 came out on Wednesday, we felt that with the holiday it would probably only be listened to this week...hence our ability to take a breather, which I guess is ok 'cos this is podcasting, not terrestrial radio after all.

Now that you've indulged us for a week, we'd like to repay the favor with a show specially dedicated to our listeners - this is our way of giving thanks to your loyalty, feedback, interaction and ultimately, faith in our content.

So send in your comments, audio promos and feedback to us via e-mail, phone (1-360-365-9834) or waxmail and we'll do our best to get you in the sound for next week's show! (audio comments are preferred and please try and keep 'em to about a minute)

Eran, from the extra small country that makes a lot of noise as he puts it (Israel), sent me this CGC promo he put together as both a prelude and buzz-generating mechanism for his blog which will be launching soon. He calls it voter generated media and is designed to help engage his community in the upcoming elections (remember Howard Dean?)

No matter what your political affiliation, it's another expression of a consumer using his talents and the tools at his disposal to express himself and reach out to those around him.

Now if someone can just help him replace the apple with a Jaffa Orange, we'll be all set!

Heathrow Airport (and no doubt many others) has a really great little "feature" called Fasttrack, whereby you essentially check through security in a shortened line and in expedited fashion. I flew American (upgraded with miles) and used this feature as part of a bundled Business Class experience. Yes, many airports offer separate check in for first and business class passengers, but what made this special was the fact that I received an "invitation" to move through immigration and customs on the way in and security on the way out.

It made me think of a few applications/offshoots:

1. In this day and age of increased security (esp. at airports), it's encouraging to see that this does not necessarily have to come at the expense of service excellence and making people feel special

2. The US is woefully behind in terms of figuring this out in general...and again, epecially at airports. Not all airports offer expedited check-in. There's a real inconsistency problem. Business and first class passengers can't access the business lounges which are all privatized. This is ridiculous that I can get in with an American Express card, but not with a business class ticket...

3. As I'm sitting in Starbucks right now and staring at a seemingly endless line, I'm wondering why brands and companies don't offer a similar fasttrack service. Starbucks is a prime candidate. Many hotels have separate check-in for their rewards customers, except no one is ever behind the counter and even so, a Premium customer is made to feel like they're cutting in line by moving to this separate counter. But back to the idea at hand...think about the impact of a Fasttrack mechanism in highly trafficked and frequented establishments and what this would do to increase loyalty, retention and sales....

Great commentary from both Fresh Glue and Being Reasonable on Creativity versus Effectiveness.

Personally, I draw from the dictionary.com definition of the term using the two-word phrase, "productive originality" - in other words, doing things differently and getting a result, which contrasts fairly neatly with Einstein's definition of insanity AKA "doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a (different) result"

Good food for the brain all round!

Virgin Digital has got it going on.

They've launched a series of highly involving games/challenges in multiple formats to announce/promote its music service.

Included is this great "treasure hunt" on Heavy.com (my magnifying glass is on the 20 made out of Matchboxes :); I also like the green day on the calendar to its right) I was surprised that I couldn't find a comprehensive cheat sheet on the Web, but I guess people don't want to share when it comes to winning something.

There's also a cool video promo where you have to identify a series of songs/artists. This time, there is a cheat sheet (spoiler alert)

This is what I would call "100% proof" Jaffe Juice validation of the rise of new marketing and the need for brands to recognize that unless they embrace a new way of thinking (idea/strategy) and acting (execution/tactics), they will be placing their brands directly in the path of risking being made redundant, irrelevant or even extinct.

ABSOLUT - the brand that made its name through their ownership, creative differentiation and dominance of the back page of magazines - announced that it is swearing off print in favor of the Internet.

Not only did ABSOLUT put itself on the map through its print advertising, but I would even go as far to say that it defined the print medium as well in the process (kind of like Apple's 1984 and the Super Bowl/mass media TV)

This is huge news for a bunch of reasons. It is the clear recognition of the Web as a strategic imperative; it is the stark concession by a marketer that in order to evolve, stay relevant and top of mind with today's consumer, a new frontline mix of approaches and alternatives to traditional advertising will have to be employed and deployed; it is also of course the admission that the existing subset WAS NOT WORKING.

I worked on ABSOLUT's foray onto the Web in 2001/2, so its use of the Web is nothing new, however the positioning of the Web as the lead medium/communicator is ABSOLUTly new. ABSOLUT will now spend 20% of its budget online.

Here are some key sound bytes:

"Online plays a more important role than print. Print is not the key media anymore," said Patric Blixt, communications manager for new media at Absolut in Stockholm, Sweden. "We're evolving the iconic advertising, making it more inclusive and modern with the same wit and creativity we used in our offline advertising."

The architect of the brand's growth in its glory years, Michel Roux, said change is inevitable. "You can't be staying in the same seat all the time," said Roux. "You can only do so much of the same advertising. Consumers say that [ad's] sort of cute, but enough is enough."

Download absolut_new_marketing.mp3

Bastiaan sent me this link to a Web 2.0 Validator. Jaffe Juice scored a miserable 3 out of 17 - with points for using python, cascading style sheets and appears to be Web 3.0. I have no clue what the hell that means or why it's important...sufficed to say, the only validation here is that Web 2.0 is a bunch of hype.

I've fallen waaaaaaaaaaaay behind. Here are the new requests since week 3's kick-off. I'll update the full list (and it is rather full) at the end of the week

Across the Sound Podcast #11

Adjab reports on the great Tide to Go tie-in with Martha Stewart - The Apprentice and Madison + Vine declares:(if anyone has the text of this article, please send and I'll post)

Procter & Gamble Co.'s brand integration campaign for Tide to Go on "The Apprentice: Martha Stewart" doubled sales of the product, according to the company.

I'm only too happy to share this news and kudos for the integrated approach deployed (see Adjab article for details)

Now here are some thoughts to ponder:

• If product placement/brand integration is so successful, why the hell is NBC canceling the show?
• Is this not clear evidence that we need a new way to measure the impact, effectiveness, engagement etc of content on TV? Reach was clearly not considered to be enough to save this program and yet here is the same program doubling sales for Tide To Go...
• That said...let's go back to the issue at hand. Are successes like these the exception or the norm?
• And to follow on from the previous point...a CPG product (especially a new launch) is perfectly placed within a Martha-branded environment. Would this have been as successful on The Donald's version. I say unequivocally, NO!

When all is said and done...I still find it hard to conclude from this case study that branded entertainment is a scaleable and long term solution. The success of this product is due to....THE PRODUCT. Tide-To-Go is a fantastic product - it's new, newsworthy, fills an unmet need and almost sells itself. Absolutely, TV should be a critical component of the media buy...I'm just not sure it screams branded entertainment versus terrestrial advertising, or if a new marketing solution wouldn't/couldn't have provided a more effective outcome.

In summary: kudo's to Tide/P&G; kudo's to Martha; raspberry to everyone else.

Gotta push back on 2.0 - Do we need another label or another esoteric buzzwords that creates further confusion at a time when things are the clearest they've been in a while.

Juice to Go podcast commentary from 35,000 feet en route to Brussels: Download web_two_point_oh_no.mp3

(or subscribe directly thru iTunes)

Article from Hollywood Reporter on the sea change in entertainment marketing and whether new marketing can come to rescue.

Gotta love the line from TV Week:

Television technology is advancing so quickly that the groundbreaking Disney-iTunes deal unveiled just weeks ago is already starting to look like a dinosaur

The reference is to TiVo's announcement that soon you'll be able to take your TiVoToGo to the iPod and/or PSP.

Gavin O Malley from MediaPost calls TiVo the Enemy, as it relates to threatening the rich media and pre-roll space in the interactive realm.

Such is evolution...the weaker get swallowed by the stronger, although the weaker can adapt...in this case, the onus shifts on the networks to make their content more readily and easily available...both at a discount (yummy price wars, although there's no trumping $0.00) and perhaps using other differentiated tactics such as smaller file sizes or perhaps ease of transfer.

But at the same time, the headache also threatens to become a royal migraine when factoring in global (ability to) access, talent rights, measurement, ROI etc. etc. etc.

Download tv_on_your_ipod_and_psp_via_tivo_and_pc.mp3

Great campaign for Honda's Element which really hits a number of new marketing buttons on the ole category radar.

It has touches of Monty Python mixed with a novel approach which not only humanizes the brand (in an endearing way), but also communicates the various proof points in a subtle and acceptable manner.

Elements (pun not intended) of the TV campaign are embedded to the dialogue, not that I would know it..as I don't watch TV commercials (are you shocked?)

What I want to know is what happens once I've engaged all the animals? I was a little stumped after I had walked, talked, sang and danced with the animals. Perhaps someone at RPA can fill me in?

Good stuff.

Download jj_coming_of_ad_age.mp3

Ad Age is raked through the coals today by none other than one of its own, Rance Crain - it's editor in chief.

The issue in question is a fake cover for SpecificMEDIA, which appeared on a copy of Ad Age distributed to about 1,000 attendees at @d:tech in New York. The cover in question contained an interview and no doubt various self-serving and I'm sure less-serious verbiage about SpecificMEDIA (second mention in post...PR coup no doubt!)

While you might think I'm going to jump on the bandwagon, I'm not. What's the big deal? Are we calling @d:tech attendees dumb? (Let me get back to you on that one :)) Was the circulation not controlled and in context? Was this not a different way to break through, compared to the usual page or spread or Infinity 22-page buy out? Could there not have been an integrated sponsorship in place by SpecificMEDIA at the event?

Look...if you think this is bad. I'll tell you what BAD is. I saw a copy of the New York Times (another MSM outlet with hard-won credibility) with a fake cover and headline announcing that this Fall, there will be a female President in the White House. This was obviously for ABC...and distributed at Grand Central to a WIDE and UNCONTROLLED audience.

I don't know about you, but perhaps this is a tempest in a teapot. We all know that editorial and sales don't talk to each other (read: hate each other), so what's the biggie? Publishers aren't integrated. Agencies aren't integrated. Marketers aren't integrated. Let's all be held accountable to the same low standards...hey it works for television ratings?

In all seriousness, it does underscore the tremendous pains that the print industry is currently undergoing and to quote Rance in his article, acknowledging the increasing role and influence of the blogosphere:

Not with cyberspace cops on the case, we discovered to our deep chagrin.

Welcome to the conversation!

Here's the skinny on arguably one of the best shows on TV that - unless something dramatic happens - will have it final curtain call at the end of the year: Arrested Development.

It's yet another example of network stupidity i.e. using flawed viewer metrics that measure potential quantity exposure as opposed to actual quality engagement.

Bob Garfield says 50% of the population are dumber than the other half (it's a statistical fact) I think in this case, both halves should be given an equal opportunity to enjoy this superb show.

It's a real confusing predicament: how can a show that is so loved by such as passionate audience...with univeral critic approval...fall into the graveyard along with other cult/fan faves like Sports Night, Once and Again and The Family Guy (it was resurrected)?

Rather than vent, I'm going to offer up 4 solutions (Mitch Hurwitz - creator of AD - if you're reading this...or if not, someone pass this onto him - call me!):

1. Use the web/blosophere to sign up the largest petition of hand-raisers to date. Let's take this vote of confidence to the network

2. Sell this to NBC. NBC needs the most help...and this show (with the right promotion) is a perfect contender (no pun intended) for Thursday night in Primo Timo.

3. Go direct to consumer. Put this online on iTunes and get your audience to vote with their dollars. They will. If you like, you can even use a combination of advance selling, combined with an honor system to help fund your efforts. I think this is the big idea of the 3 thus far...

4. One more solution for the network(s). Give your audience an opportunity to vote for one show per season that will be kept on the air - IRRESPECTIVE. Will one strategic "investment" per season break your backs? I think not...it might even surprise you.

Lost Remote weighs in with valuable commentary

Great piece (Chris Seibold, Digg) which talks about Apple's possible shift in their advertising strategy from "telling" to "showing" i.e. invoking one of my 3 new roles for advertising: to demonstrate.

Can we expect to see more demo style commercials from Apple? One would think after eight years building the brand it might be an opportune moment to show folks how the products actually function. Hopefully, Apple is headed in the direction of giving people visual cues as to what their products actually do. Such a change can’t do anything but decrease confusion.

Forget the Burger King spoof video, this is the real deal.

I won't tell you more, except to say this is probably the only time 30-seconds makes sense...except that you still would be hard pressed to get away with something like this on TV.

Watch away!

Posted by Adverblog and reported in MediaPost: CBS will put a bonus scene from CSI Miami online, with a plot twist that will only be revealed to viewers later in the season. The scene in question will be sponsored by GM's Hummer and the overgrown tank will also appear in the scene in question.

It's a pretty cool twist on branded entertainment, where the product placement in question is not part of the core of the content, but rather a bonus piece.

Now if only they could do something about that ridiculously out of place vehicle...

Just a reminder, if you haven't switched over your RSS feed to Feedburner, please do so and use: http://feeds.feedburner.com/JaffeJuice

I'd also recommend subscribing to the Feedblitz daily e-mail digest. It's reliable and right now, contains the entire post. Think of it as Jaffe Juice to-go! You can subscribe in the right hand column.

One other thing...I'm working towards launching a Jaffe Juice podcast in 2006. For now, you can subscribe in iTunes or using the same Feedburner feed in your podcatcher. I'll be periodically posting to this - especially from the road. So for now, it's kinda underground. Your suggestions are most welcome and appreciated in terms of shaping what this will look and sound like.

Week 2 ended off strongly. Here's the full summary, plus an update from Friday thru Sunday:

(snip) Mommycast Podcast picks up Dixie and Emo Girl Talk, hosted by 15-year old Martina Butler has picked up Nature's Cure as a lead sponsor.

(snip) Radio Listeners fall to an all time low.

(snip) According to Bridge Ratings/eMarketer, 5 million people downloaded podcasts (or will) in 2005, compared to 820,000 in 2004. This number is expected to hit 63 million in 2010

Burger King's irreverent and edgy approach has soared to a new level, with the sponsorship of a collection of iPod video content, distributed through Heavy. Click here to view the downloads and here to view the "unauthorized" (yeah, right) Crying Game meets Consumer Generated Content creation (it's called "Webcam Stripper")

According to Ad Age, this has been one of the most viral clips ever shown on Heavy, with over 4.1 million downloads since November 1st.

I don't believe the Webcam Stripper clip was unauthorized at all. 2 scenarios - either BK sanctioned it under the covers...or Crispin did it with a don't-ask-don't-tell approach. Either way, there's no denying the reality that "The King" has stepped boldly and rather credibly into the foreground of our pop-cultural consciousness. 4.1 million downloads represents as mainstream as you get in this fragmented world.

So does it help sell Chicken Burgers? BK Big Fish perhaps (sorry, terrible I know...but I couldn't resist), but I'm not sure what else...

Let's go to the free iPod videos. I watched a couple and they are essentially spoofs of Target's Wake-Up-Call promotion, a Harold and Kumar meets Punk'd McDonalds jibe, etc. They left me feeling a bit confused. Were they created by Burger King or just sponsored?

The iPod Video penetration is virtually non-existent, however any of these movies can be watched on iTunes.

So what's going on here?

On the surface, there's the media 101 strategy of connecting with the younger, male-skewed game-playing demographic. Heavy is an obvious choice. iPod videos is an obvious approach. The coolness association is a no-brainer.

But I think the real story was always the PR one. Both the fact that BK was sponsoring these downloads, and ultimately the "racy" viral video, which I think was always the prize in this quest.

Whether you understand it or not...whether you are skeptical or not...whether you care or not...whether this sold burgers or not...the fact remains there are things happening here that 99.9% of us probably don't best understand or "get" yet. There is experimentation, risk taking, adoption of alternative and non-traditional approaches and yes, time will tell whether this is Regal Genius in the making or a fast track to an agency review.

Place your bets.

A while back, I spoke about the trend of advertisers advertising their advertising. It's something I raised in my book and commented on with the world Premier of the King Kong trailer being flagged to be recorded on a TiVo Showcase.

This weekend, I noted another Showcase on TiVo...this time it was an opportunity to view the making of a new Nissan commercial. It's another expression of the advertising your advertising trend - this time taking a page out of the DVD playbook (director's commentaries, deleted scenes etc)

Personally, I didn't like the execution one bit...it was very esoteric and portrayed the commercial's director as being nothing more than an overdosed Kool-Aid victim; an industry insider etc (how do you communicate the car that has it all? no special effects are needed to advertise this car etc - give me a break)...however I do award a very rare Jaffe A-for-effort.

UNM2PNM is approaching the end of its second week. Things are really starting to take shape and here's your full update.

Today's LA Times ran the following piece: Networks say TV ads still matter

Subhead: Executives seek to use their own research and findings from Nielsen to show that DVRs such as TiVo don't pose as big a threat as once fear. Translation: Self-serving and flawed research respectively. Let's continue...

Findings from Nielsen Media Research this fall in seven markets — including Denver, Houston and Orlando, Fla. — showed that viewers in homes with digital video recorders spent 12% more time watching television, for a total of 5.7 hours a day on average. When factoring in DVR usage, prime-time programs saw a 4% boost in their viewership.

I have seen other research which concurs that DVR consumers watch more TV than non-DVR consumers. That's because it's quality TV...it's quality content. The problem is of course, that they're not watching commercials (BIG DIFFERENCE; BIG DISTINCTION) I can buy the increase of 4% in viewership (nothing earth shattering...given the current run rate of fleeting viewers to cable, Web, DVD, Gaming etc), but I do find the 5.7 hours/day to be a little out of whack...clearly we're talking about an entire household from an aggregated standpoint, however this kind of lumped in data only goes to the problem at hand...one size fits all; mass media approach which does not segment and target accordingly.

The networks said their own research showed that more than half of DVR users paid attention to commercials and that they recalled spots they saw. The network studies also indicated something surprising: that 53% of DVR users have gone back to watch commercials they initially fast-forwarded through.

OK...this is where the bullshit meter goes wild. For starters, we have the networks conceding that about half of DVR users don't pay attention to commercials and/or recall the spots they say. Then we have a factoid which has no context, foundation, frame of reference or direction stating that 53% of DVR users may have replayed a commercial they initially fast forwarded. Come on....what's the incidence of this occurrence? Does "once ever" count as "always"? Best case scenario, we're talking about iconic, memorable and easily recognizable creative (for example, early stage iPod or Nike commercials), but until you demonstrate this being anything other than an atypical exception to the norm, stop wasting our time.

Nielsen research also showed that about 90% of the DVR users watched the shows at their designated broadcast time.

Another piece of misleading information. Does "at their designated broadcast time" mean watching CSI at 9pm or 9.20pm - in other words with just the right amount of time-shifting to eradicate commercials?

Alan Wurtzel, president of research and media development for NBC...wanted to highlight the data to debunk what he called the "urban legend" that "DVRs were going to kill the business." Wurtzel's theory is that because the earliest users of DVRs were mostly tech lovers and industry insiders, their habits were not representative of the entire population. If all Americans behaved like those who first embraced DVRs, "we'd all be wearing black, driving Jags and Mercedes and trying to get a good table at the Palm."

Huh? Since when are early adopter tech lovers (read: geek) Jag drivers? Wurtzel contradicts himself...he's saying that today's DVR user is mainstream/representative of the entire population, and yet we're still talking about 8% of the US population, which puts the diffusion/adoption of DVR's in the early adopter category. It is incongruous that a consumer purchasing a DVR would be akin to a VCR consumer with the 12:00 flashing on its LCD screen. The DVR alone may not kill the business, but it is critical to note that it is the DVR, along with the Web, DVD, VCR, PSP and good old remote control are all working together - exponentially - to give consumers unprecedented choice and viable alternatives, and in this reality TV scenario, commercials are not welcome.

Marketers and agencies - you need to ignore this self-serving, borderline egregious information and look beyond the Kumbaya brotherhood of the networks.

Networks - you need to grow up quickly and start taking responsibility for the mess - clutter, inability to target more accurately (and in your defence, along with the drivel you've had to accept in the form of "creative" advertising)

Are you part of the problem or part of the solution? Let me ask you again...are you part of the problem or part of the solution?

This press conference is a painful whinge that refuses to acknowlege a sea-change and fundamental shift in the landscape.

There are plenty of viable possibilities out there and potential solutions. Some even will lie within or through the DVR (in the book I call them, "commercials frozen in time") But in order to fully explore them, you're going to need to get off your butts and do some real work for a change, instead of fudging one-dimensional data.

The Democrats recent $128bn innovation plan to wire American with affordable broadband Internet Access is a piece of new that got me excited on many levels.

In my book, I talk about the ultimate cause new marketing plan: wiring America and now it looks like the idea might come true.

It's exciting on so many levels: societal, economic, media and political. For one thing, Universal Broadband will truly level the playing field from the ability to grant all Americans the same quality of ubiquotous access to the promise of perfect information. The socioeconomic benefits from VoIP thru access to the world's largest marketplace and bookstore are equally self evident. The spike in penetration/broadband adoption will probably drive in a final nail into the work-in-progress of the old media and marketing models.

From a political standpoint, could this be the differentiated position that people have been crying out for the Democrats to own? Will we see their advertising reflect the promise of Universal Broadband? Is this the kind of real promise that can and will be kept?

On the other side of the coin, Republicans countered with criticism that this plan would lead to more taxes and regulation, but it should also be noted that President Bush too called for universal broadband access by 2007. Perhaps the Republican plan would have aimed for a solution which would not have included taxes or regulations...but it will be interesting to see the progress/report card in 2007. It does come up pretty conveniently on an election year...

Across the Sound Podcast - Episode 10