Do People Want More Gadgets That Only Work In A Few Places?
from the just-wondering... dept
A month ago, Skype teamed up with Linksys to offer a special Skype cordless phone that seemed likely only to add to the clutter on your desk. Now, Accton Technology is introducing a Skype mobile phone that connects directly to a WiFi router. Unlike the Linksys device, it doesn't need to connect through your computer (meaning your computer doesn't need to be on). Sure, this may be cool in some circumstances, but mostly, it just seems like yet another device to carry around -- and one that won't work in most places. The biggest complaint about mobile phone service in the US is that coverage is poor, and now they want people to buy phones that have almost no coverage at all? It's not at all clear how these devices will get on WiFi networks. Must they be open? If not, how much of a pain will it be to negotiate the security via the phone? Other than that, most people who buy one would also need to carry around a regular mobile phone, because this device appears to only work with Skype. For a few people, this could certainly be useful, but it doesn't seem like a very large market.
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Advertising phones
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No Subject Given
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... and why does an iPod need a color screen? ...
They add every other useless feature to phones and iPods, but not this ... shame shame.
But, yeah, a stand-alone wifi phone is dumb.
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I don't know...
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Re: I don't know...
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This is for your home or office!
Reasons for a home line: #1 if mobile service sucks #2 international calls are cheaper and #3 sometimes someone wants to call to speak to anyone in the house, not a specific person (e.g. delivery guy, refrigerator service lady, etc).
I agree it's not a useful replacement for a mobe.
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Re: This is for your home or office!
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Other Biggest Complaint
> want people to buy phones that have almost no
> coverage at all?
The next biggest complaint is that mobile carriers use contracts and anti-competitive practices to lock customers into shoddy, expensive service plans with little innovation.
Integrate this kind of technology into the Palm T|X, the Nokia 770, or one of the upcoming wifi enabled phones and maybe that's a technology that can provide some small competitive pressure on mobile carriers. Not that it's ever going to be a viable replacement for mainstream users. But a few urban early-adopters may just decide to scale back their plans to trade some of the crappy/expensive mobile data service for crappy/cheap wifi voice service.
Certainly the standalone phone is a dead end, but I'm not convinced that with the right device partnership, Skype can't carve out a value-oriented niche for themselves.
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Re: Other Biggest Complaint
This might seem silly at first glance, but if it weren't for the silly ideas out there, we would have a lot less "toys" to waste...I mean save us time!
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