# Do Cisco and Ellen Page really expect us to believe that? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 12, 2010, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cisco-and-ellen-page-really-expect-us-to-believe-that/532241 "2010-03-12T14:56:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cisco-and-ellen-page-really-expect-us-to-believe-that/532241/21 "2010-03-12T21:28:43Z")
> [@](#): > > And why is Ellen Page supposed to appeal to those buyers? Hey, Ellen Page can talk to me about bridal gowns, dust mites, or menstrual cramps, and she’d have my undivided attention. Every time. ---
**Author:** ![Mahna\_Mahna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47c2d/32.png) [@Mahna\_Mahna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahna_Mahna)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cisco-and-ellen-page-really-expect-us-to-believe-that/532241/22 "2010-03-12T21:40:36Z")
> [@Arnold\_Winkelried](#): > > And 4 PM in Los Angeles is 8 AM the next day in Beijing. That would work too. If you’d read the thread, you’d know that the school in question is in Lunenberg, NS… and Lunenberg is in the Atlantic timezone. They don’t say exactly where in China the other school is located, but if they were in Shanghai, they’d be offset by exactly 12 hours. That means the Chinese kids would have to be in school at 8pm to say hello to the Canadian kids at 8am… or vice-versa. There’s absolutely no overlap in regular school hours for the two countries. Y’know.. just saying. ---
**Author:** ![wierdaaron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/eada6e/32.png) [@wierdaaron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wierdaaron)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cisco-and-ellen-page-really-expect-us-to-believe-that/532241/23 "2010-03-12T22:40:50Z")
I’ve never understood Cisco’s advertising methods. For the last 10 years or so I’ve been seeing ads from them showing off imaginary video teleconferencing with a pristine quality that even today is impossible without satellite uplinks. I can understand them wanting the public to think of cisco when they think of video calls, but until they bought Linksys they didnt sell anything that cost less than a thousand dollars and required talking to a sales agent. Then they go crazy with product placement. Everything on 24 has a cisco logo on it. Why? Whyeeee? The people who need to know about cisco already know about cisco. It’s not a mcdonald’s situation where they get a benefit from being ubiquitous. They should market to CEO types, not to American Idol audiences. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cisco-and-ellen-page-really-expect-us-to-believe-that/532241/24 "2010-03-12T22:50:02Z")
> [@wierdaaron](#): > > Then they go crazy with product placement. Everything on 24 has a cisco logo on it. Why? Whyeeee? Likely because the President has the kind of juice to make that kind of teleconferencing a reality. Then again, can you send that to my screen so I can reposition the satelites for a better picture? ---
**Author:** ![wierdaaron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/eada6e/32.png) [@wierdaaron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wierdaaron)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cisco-and-ellen-page-really-expect-us-to-believe-that/532241/25 "2010-03-12T22:55:29Z")
Let me just open up the ports to redirect the mainframe. 5%… 12%… Comeon… ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cisco-and-ellen-page-really-expect-us-to-believe-that/532241/26 "2010-03-12T23:09:49Z")
> [@kushiel](#): > > There’s also one where she goes to see the doctor but the receptionist tells her he’s on vacation in Copenhagen, but she can see him anyway. They walk into an office with a big screen TV and the doctor is on the other side of the link. > > 1. He’s on vacation > 2. In a wildly different time zone > 3. There was a mother and her child already in the waiting room when Ellen came in. Damnit, they were there first! It’s their turn! 1. They allude to the fact that he is still seeing patients even though he is on vacation. 2. There is about a six hour difference I think. Not so wildly dfiferent that there couldn’t be a reasonable teleconference. 3. Page was just stopping in to say hi, not for an appointment. I guess I don’t understand the time zone complaints. I mean I understand the issue, but it isn’t relevant to the actual application of the technology is it? While it is unlikely that kids would have such a teleconference it is not impossible. I like the commercials and it has nothing to do with the fact that Ellen Page is hot…nothing at all. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cisco-and-ellen-page-really-expect-us-to-believe-that/532241/27 "2010-03-12T23:16:05Z")
> [@wierdaaron](#): > > … > For the last 10 years or so I’ve been seeing ads from them showing off imaginary video teleconferencing with a pristine quality that even today is impossible without satellite uplinks… They’ve only been advertising [Telepresence](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cisco_TelePresence) since it’s non-imaginary debut in 2006, and it (1080p video and multichannel audio) is fully possible without satellite uplinks, but you probably need to upgrade your routing and switching hardware (hint, hint). ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2010, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cisco-and-ellen-page-really-expect-us-to-believe-that/532241/28 "2010-03-13T00:02:21Z")
> [@wierdaaron](#): > > The people who need to know about cisco already know about cisco. It’s not a mcdonald’s situation where they get a benefit from being ubiquitous. They should market to CEO types, not to American Idol audiences. Hey, CEOs watch American Idol, too. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2010, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cisco-and-ellen-page-really-expect-us-to-believe-that/532241/29 "2010-03-13T01:44:09Z")
> [@Mahna\_Mahna](#): > > If you’d read the thread ☹ But at least I read the OP in its entirety! That’s got to be worth something! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2010, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cisco-and-ellen-page-really-expect-us-to-believe-that/532241/30 "2010-03-13T01:55:37Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > They’ve only been advertising [Telepresence](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cisco_TelePresence) since it’s non-imaginary debut in 2006, and it (1080p video and multichannel audio) is fully possible without satellite uplinks, but you probably need to upgrade your routing and switching hardware (hint, hint). Also, the Telepresence systems are really expensive. I think that single-screen system in the school and the doctor’s office costs something like $100,000. (The three-screen system is the really cool one, although it costs $300,000.) And as you said, it requires a lot of bandwidth. So we’re supposed to believe that a small-town school in Nova Scotia, another school in China and some random doctor’s office can afford this stuff. BTW, no one mentioned the commercial set in the police station, which seemed to display pride at the idea of webcams all over town spying on people. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2010, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cisco-and-ellen-page-really-expect-us-to-believe-that/532241/31 "2010-03-13T04:27:31Z")
I teach at an “English Village” in Korea. Most of the students come here for a 5-day, 4-night trip, kind of like computer camp. We have a 13-hour difference from the US East coast. The kids could easily get in front of a web cam any time after dinner and teleconference with American kids who are taking morning classes. It just isn’t that far-fetched. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2010, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cisco-and-ellen-page-really-expect-us-to-believe-that/532241/32 "2010-03-13T04:30:35Z")
What do they talk about when they’re in teleconference? ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2010, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cisco-and-ellen-page-really-expect-us-to-believe-that/532241/33 "2010-03-13T07:06:31Z")
first thing in the morning China time, is late afternoon on the west coast. There is an overlap during normal business hours. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2010, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cisco-and-ellen-page-really-expect-us-to-believe-that/532241/34 "2010-03-13T09:54:30Z")
My problem is with kids getting excited about a “field trip,” when they are actually still going to be sitting in their classroom. A teleconference with Chinese kids might be a relatively fun activity compared to most lessons, and even exciting the first couple of times, but the whole point of a _field trip_ is that you get out of the classroom and out of the normal school routine. The traveling, as I recall, was often more fun than the place we got to. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2010, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cisco-and-ellen-page-really-expect-us-to-believe-that/532241/35 "2010-03-13T12:34:59Z")
I’ve barely noticed the ads as I tivo through them at speed. But having Googled Ellen Page for the first time, I think I’ll watch at least one at normal speed. Cute, but in a believable way. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cisco-and-ellen-page-really-expect-us-to-believe-that/532241.md?page=1)