EchoDitto

There's been a lot of talk lately about the demise of the traditional print newspaper, sparked by Eric Alterman's article in the New Yorker called "Out of Print". It's an interesting discussion that made me examine my own news-procuring habits.

Sorry, print newspapers, but for me you're already dead. I most recently touched newsprint this weekend while I was balling up pages of the Washington Post to help get my campfire started. Before that, I can't even remember. I know that there are many of you out there who can't live without your morning paper (or papers), but that ain't me.

One of my favorite clients through the years here at EchoDitto has been the Clinton Foundation. We've worked with them at their annual conference, helped them launch a book and inspired thousands of people make a commitment to change the world.

This week we helped them with the inaugural meeting of CGI University. CGI U is a project of the Clinton Global Initiative that challenges college students and universities to take on global problems with real, concrete solutions. For us, that meant helping them get those commitments on the web, as well as updating the site to emphasize some of those new commitments.

After bitterly disappointing elections in 2000 and 2004, I took my leave of politics and decided I was no longer interested—if you'd asked me, I might have told you I was a registered cynic. This year's election, until recently, had largely failed to capture my attention. But as I watched the Iowa caucus results—and some caucuses themselves! How fascinating!!—I felt that political part of myself stirring again.

And after watching last night's primary results, I feel optimistic. What I'm feeling at this moment is the best of politics, that wave of emotion as the candidates remind you that we can make change, and we can make it together.

As everyone was finalizing their weekend plans last Friday, it was announced that Al Gore was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his "efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change."

Feeling left out? Want a piece of the action? Well, he can't do it all by himself. Check out one of our recent projects and do your part today to take action to solve the climate crisis - take the 7-point pledge - created by the Alliance for Climate Protection. If you haven't heard of the Alliance, find out more while listening to Gore speak about his award.

Vermonters have long resisted their membership in the United States, and some rebel separatists are still calling for an independent Green Mountain Republic. Furthermore, the international focus of my alma mater, Middlebury College, certainly adds to the international image. But Apple, and their iPhone partner AT&T, have abused Vermont's desire for independence: iPhones, which are only available in the United States, cannot be purchased or used by Vermonters. In fact, iPhone users who make more than forty percent of their calls in Vermont will be booted from their contracts. The real reason is that Vermont is the only state without AT&T cell service, so the company is forced to cover roaming charges, but the situation smacks of discrimination.

While this may upset Vermont's Apple fanatics, the state, which has been rapidly losing its young, can certainly use this discrimination to their advantage. By courting AT&T users who want out of their contracts, everybody wins. The winters may be cold, but the Verizon reception is excellent.

It's been a bit over a month now, and I have to say that I love my iPhone. It's small--thinner than a Motorola Q, which I think used to be the thinnest smartphone on the market--and lightweight. It works a lot better than my Treo 650, even though the virtual keyboard took a little getting used to. I find that I'm using my mobile email a lot more often than on my Treo, probably because of my iPhone's ability to work well with IMAP folders. The iPod and phone features all work very well.

Many of us were up late last night watching the CNN YouTube debates, excited at the prospect of a different debate format. Finally, the voters, people like you and me, had the chance to ask a question directly to a potential presidential candidate.

While most of us were watching the debates, quietly judging the merit of each question and wondering what would come next, AP was calling our colleague Michael Silberman to ask his opinion on the effectiveness of the debates:

"The greatest innovation of this debate is that we're seeing candidates respond to real voters instead of polished TV personalities," said Michael … "It's a win for the candidates who are at their best when addressing voters. It's a win for democracy, since average Americans outside of the early primary states now have the opportunity to ask direct questions of candidates."

So at one point or another, we’ve all heard the maxim that the digital revolution is going to change the way we do everything. Well... once again it has been proven right.   

The next victim of the digital age?  Ironically, it may be the art of war.

I have a confession to make. I love Google. I also fear Google. But I can't leave Google. We've been together for so many years, and shared so much. It's given me so much, but it can take even more away. Don't get me wrong. Google's been very good to me. But I've heard that there are some people in its past, before me, that kinda got burned by Google.

And, to be honest, I'm not sure I like some of Google's friends. I'm know some of its friends don't like me, and I hate to think of Google telling them everything it knows about me. And, I never know if it will turn on me or not. So I can't walk out. Google has way too much on me. In a sense, you might say Google owns me. And what Google owns, Google can sell out.