techPresident - David All - Comments

Digital divide

Cdub — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 23:36:58 -0400

I think there is a level of ivory tower syndrome in the gravity placed on Internet for Everyone. I do think it's important, but there are many basic needs that I wish we could meet for everyone before the Internet. Though Van Jones is right to point out it's hard to apply for jobs you don't know about, it's harder to apply for jobs or get the Internet when you can't afford to spend time looking for a job or clothes to go to an interview or a healthy breakfast.
Vermont's governor is campaigning to make Vermont the first "e-state" by providing access to high-speed Internet for all. It'll be interesting to see how this progresses ... but note that this is access only. The government isn't providing free or subsidized Internet, the government purports to be working with businesses (ie Comcast) and non profits to run a line to each town. (Much of rural VT relies on dial-up, or satellite for those who can afford it)

Trippi is still ahead of America

cfinnie — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 14:23:24 -0400

Someday, Joe Trippi will be right. But, as history shows, it's rarely during the campaign he's working on.

The Internet enabled Howard Dean to be a viable candidate. It did not make him a winner. And I contend that the reason it enabled his high profile and fundraising totals was not because of the tool, but the campaign and candidate. When I first went to the Dean campaign site, I was amazed at what I read there. There was no political parsing. I didn't see calculation and hype. I saw open, honest opinions and I was hooked. So that was the first tool I saw the campaign use. But it was the message that did it, not the tool. When I first saw Dean, he said "only you have the power..." Then campaign then provided the tools and the structure to back that up. So the tools proved the commitment. But they were not the winning message, just the medium.

As the earlier comment points out, blogs are impacting the MSM. But their media reach is still a fraction of Faux Noise. With that big an echo chamber, even the lack of message can be overcome. That's why the Republicans are not worried.

I wish I shared his optimism

Dan Ancona — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 20:50:04 -0400

My feeling is that - if us lefty internet organizer types are hugely and uproariously successful over the next year or so - at most something like a quarter or maybe a third of the electorate is going to be directly impacted by the independent internet media, except maybe for the occasional wild viral hit. There's still a LOT of voters out there watching Fox, and between known site traffic numbers and the last Pew, we know that a lot of folks getting news online are getting it from MSM sites.

Sure, the 'sphere is having a somewhat increasing role in shaping how the MSM covers stuff - and arguably in exposing hilariously brash acts of hypocrisy like O'Reilly's latest stunts - but we've still got a long way to go from where I'm sitting.

And possibly more interesting...

Raven Brooks — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 19:47:34 -0400

Blue State Digital's statement.

Statement from Thomas Gensemer, Managing Director, Blue State Digital

This afternoon, an employee at our firm, Phillip de Vellis, received a call from Arianna Huffington of "The Huffington Post" regarding the "1984" video currently circulating online. Initially, de Vellis refused to respond to her requests. He has since acknowledged to Blue State Digital that he was the creator of the video.

Pursuant to company policy regarding outside political work or commentary on behalf of our clients or otherwise, Mr. de Vellis has been terminated from Blue State Digital effective immediately.

Blue State Digital is under contract with the Obama Campaign for technology pursuits including software development and hosting. Additionally, one of our founding partners is on leave from the company to work directly for the campaign at headquarters.

However, Blue State Digital is not currently engaged in any relationship with the Obama Campaign for creative or non-technical services.

Mr. de Vellis created this video on his own time. It was done without the knowledge of management, and was in no way tied to his work at the firm or our formal engagement [on technology pursuits] with the Obama campaign.

I have spoken with David Plouffe, Sen. Obama's campaign manager, to inform him of this action and am appreciative of his understanding and ongoing support of our work.

We wish Mr. de Vellis well in his future endeavors.

HuffPo has the scoop

Raven Brooks — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 19:36:57 -0400

story here

Well, today I can end the guessing. Last night, we sent out a challenge to the HuffPost team asking them to hit the phones and contact all their sources. As a result, we have learned the video was the work of Philip de Vellis, who was the Internet communications director for Sherrod Brown's 2006 Senate campaign, and who now works at Blue State Digital, a company created by members of Howard Dean's Internet Team.

High Quality Copies of Updated "1984" Apple Ad Readily Available

btn — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 17:48:41 -0400

FYI, Apple made high quality versions of the updated "1984" spot readily available for download on their site. They rotoscoped the iPod onto the runner's waist for the special anniversary edition Steve Jobs unveiled during one of his keynotes.

Apple ad

Fred Stutzman — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 14:34:55 -0400

Correct, versions of that commercial are available on P2P networks in many formats, so its quite likely they didn't do a youtube rip.

Interestingly, the updated version of the ad (with the iPod) was produced by Apple - http://www.macminute.com/2004/01/06/1984

Interesting insight...

David All — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 14:15:45 -0400

Just to clarify, the anti-Hillary "1984" ad used the updated version of the 1984 spot created in 2004.

And I can only find one version of that on YouTube - at least through an organic search. It was uploaded by YouTube user eons:

Here's the description of that spot in the description of YouTube:

"Apples 1984 which aired at half-time of the Super Bowl, directed by Ridley Scott, this is the remake version made in 2004, added the ipod to it."

I'm not sure what the technical word is, but you'll note that this spot has some noise distortion at the beginning of the spot - which the anti-Hillary spot does not have.

In other words, I don't think ParkRidge47 simply ripped the flash file from YouTube which would be a likely tactic. Instead, they got their hands on the original.

________________________________________
David All
The David All Group
http://davidallgroup.com
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