I have 2 discs here and they have been a life saver in our house for the evenings, particularly early on when Isabelle just wouldn't settle and I just needed 30 mins to get dinner on! It was the only thing that worked. Now we put it on about once a week if she seems grizzly and nothing else works.
Kim I was shocked when I saw how simple the whole thing was but I know that as a baby she LOVED it! I also read a background on the woman who created it, and she made a video like that for her baby so thats why it is so simplistic and why I think it works.
I know the article was talking about Baby Einstein specifically but I cannot personally see how it can be worse than some of the other inane natter that goes on on ABC kids shows. As far as the accent goes, you can switch to French - and think about most of our TV programming these days, sad as it is, that even if they dont get the accent on that,if you have any TV during the day, or at night they will get an American influence. I think if used in moderation, and not for hours at a time every day, then it is no different to any other "educational" tv program for children.
The debate as to if they should watch TV at all is another issue altogether.