Not surprisingly, a good chunk of this week's Talking Tech podcast is focused on the Maclean's cover story (apparently being positioned as a position piece now) that the “Internet Sucks”. Of course, Kevin Restivo and I passionately disagree with this thesis, which seems more rooted in causing a stir (which it did judging by all the chatter in the blogosphere) and selling magazine subscriptions than making a legitimate argument. Perhaps the story's biggest flaw is the complete lack of balance. There are no pro-Internet voices that can counter the story's claim the Internet is all about pornography, gambling, fraudsters, sexual predators and academic plagarists. Steve Maich, who wrote the story, wrote a guest post on by blog to explain why the article was done. After dismissing the Maclean's story, we talk about Google shares edging up to its record high of $491.86 in the wake of strong third-quarter results. (By the way, Red Herring has a cover story coming out Monday that asks “Is Google Still Hot?”). Finally, Kevin and I talk about Cisco's new videoconference technology that promises to jump-start a market that has never quite taken off. You can send feedback, suggestions, etc. to heytalkingtech@gmail.com.

Update: Talking Tech is produced by David Jones, Ed Lee and iStuido's Neil Johnson. As always, thanks for your terrific behind-the-scenes work!