Kara Swisher

Recent Posts by Kara Swisher

The Duck Call Stylings of Cisco's John Chambers (No, Really, Duck Calls)

What hath the Flip digital video camera wrought?

Well, for one, getting to see a major Silicon Valley tech exec do duck calls online, that’s what.

Cisco (CSCO) PR guy John Earnhardt, who is obviously studying technique from BoomTown’s shaky-cam video style, caught company CEO and Chairman John Chambers quacking away in his office.

And, of course, he then proceeded to capture the moment on the popular digital video recorder, which was made by the small and innovative San Francisco-based Pure Digital that Cisco bought for $590 million in March.

Wrote Earnhardt on the company blog:

“I was sitting at my desk a few minutes ago when I heard a duck call echoing down the corridor. Then, that inimitable John Chambers laughter. With my trusty Flip Mino HD video camera in hand I strolled into Chambers office to capture the duck call for you, our loyal readers. His lesson was brief, but it is very clear that he is a man of many talents.”

Well, that’s the Cisco PR spin on it, at least! (My spin: Chambers is one wacky dude.)

Cisco is now calling for duck call competitors to challenge Chambers on its blog or at its PR YouTube channel.

The best duck call gets a free Flip Mino CD from Chambers.

Here’s the video of Chambers in Daffy Duck mode (and below it is the full video of the demo that Pure Digital did at this year’s seventh D: All Things Digital conference):

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Another gadget you don’t really need. Will not work once you get it home. New model out in 4 weeks. Battery life is too short to be of any use.

— From the fact sheet for a fake product entitled Useless Plasticbox 1.2 (an actual empty plastic box) placed in L.A.-area Best Buy stores by an artist called Plastic Jesus