Should President Obama have skipped his trip to India in favor of TelePresence conference call?
Stephen Colbert makes no bones about it – if you’ve want a product featured prominently on his show, he’ll take your money. And so the Colbert Nation was treated to a none-too-subtle Colbert Bump for Cisco TelePresence videoconferencing Monday night.
UPDATE 11/10/2010: However Cisco says that The Colbert Report’s choice to showcase TelePresence so prominently was the show’s own. I heard from Cisco PR, Jim Brady, who told me that Cisco “was not involved in the program’s decision to mention Cisco TelePresence … it was not a pay-for-play arrangement.” I have edited my comment below in which I stated my opinion that it was.
TelePresence was featured in a bit making fun of news reports that claim President Obama is spending more per day for his trip to India than the daily expenses of the war in Afghanistan. I don’t find the news reports on the Indian trip credible enough to reprint in my blog, but if you watch the video segment from the beginning, Colbert will tell the tale.
Cisco TelePresence makes its appearance at 4:15 but it stems from remarks shown at 3:53 from Congresswoman-elect Michele Bachman of Minnesota (known as a Tea Party favorite) on how to save money on international relations.
If saving money is really the goal, then you have to wonder if Cisco’s TelePresence is even the right choice. TelePresence is known as a premium videoconferencing service that comes with a premium price tag. Maybe President Obama can conduct international relations over Skype.
