An Open Letter to Leo Laporte

Mr. Laporte, I have been a long-time fan, going back to your days at KNBR in San Francisco, through TechTV and still today.  If I did not enjoy your work, I would not bother with this letter, I would simply ignore you.  But I do appreciate the great things you are doing with podcasting/video streaming and wish you continued success.
There are a few of your behaviors that I feel that I need to comment on, as they subtract from your charm and may ultimately lead to myself, and probably others, ending our support of your programming.  These are not huge, insurmountable problems, they are issues of which I am sure you are aware, but that have yet to completely address.  I hope you will read with an open mind.
The first item is your feud with Twitter.  Those of us that have been around for a while have seen this conflict spread from being a simple disagreement about branding to – I don’t know what else to call it – a consuming passion with you.  I’m sure you won’t agree with that characterization.  I followed you to Jaiku from Twitter, and then followed you back.  I have an account on Twit Army, though I don’t use it.
But I no longer follow you on Twitter.  Back when you were so obsessed with Kevin Rose catching you in terms of followers, and then of catching him, I just got tired of what I viewed as sour grapes, and stopped following you on Twitter.  I’ve subsequently cut down on the number of your podcasts that I listen to.  I still listen to four of them, but your flagship podcast, “This Week in Tech” has become a weekly screed against Ev Williams, and it is unseemly.  Twitter has become a huge phenomenon, and it survived its initial rough start due to the drawing power of those such as yourself, Kevin Rose and Robert Scoble.  But it has gone mainstream and has moved on from it’s tech community roots.  Let it go.  It has become greater, in my mind, because of people like Lance Armstrong, Shaq, and Hodgman, taking it to a new level of access.  Thank you for helping bring it along.
I’m not asking that you stop talking about Twitter, although the Next Big Thing will come along that will make that inevitable.  I just ask that you stop bitching about it.  A man of your age and accomplishments diminishes himself when he engages in such behavior.
The other issue that I would ask that you address is the commercials in your podcast, and specifically: their length.  I appreciate that you generally take on advertisers that you feel that you can enthusiastically support.  I like Audible, too.  If I could afford a Drobo, I would have one.  I have used gotomeeting satisfactorily.  But, good God man, you go on and on!  Please, limit your commercials, including any guest “picks” or commentary to a reasonable window.  Two minutes, perhaps?  I used to just listen to the commercials.  Now, they go on at such length that I forward through them.  What used to seem organic and to-the-point now just seems crass.  You are incredibly skilled as an audio presenter.  Your ability to get your advertisers’ message across in an efficient manner is not in question, only your willingness to do so.  Please consider making more effective use of all of our time and streamline your commercial messages.
I know that you have heard these comments before.  They appear in the chat window of every episode of twit.tv that I have seen.  I ask that you take them to heart.  I have been an enthusiastic advocate of you and your products, but I feel that we are at a point where I need to say something because your behaviors in these two areas is hurting you.  And I am still your fan.