Some constructive criticizism

http://www.engadget.com/entry/853665500982...21855/#comments
see comment dated :
Posted Nov 29, 2005, 12:04 PM ET by me123

any feedback?

This was an article called

The DUALphone: Cordless landline phone that also makes Skype calls

here's the acutal comments

===============================================

. Posted Nov 29, 2005, 12:04 PM ET by me123
Come on people...the most sucessful products or businesses or services are the ones that are the "simplest to use" , "easiest to use" such as the traditional phone (product) and services like google search. It's soooooo easy to search at google that it's just "next" to perfect..that's why there's sucessful.

Traditional phone services are sucessful because it's extremely easy to use them. To make a phone call on the traditional phone is an easy "one" (1) step process, where you simply .pick up...dial.. & done. It's extremely easy.

Now we have skype? what is that? Just kidden.. I do know about it but I have "not" tried it because of one reason.. too much of a headache. You mean to tell me that my daughter, my mother/father, grandma have to be PC savy, and they must be "online" at the same time as me to make a phone conversation with them? Go gotta be kidden me. How many steps is that process? Did anyone thought about that? Forget the technolgy ,gadgets, features...instead it's about about the number of steps it takes, and how easy the process is. We should not be going backwards here by making it "more difficult to talk" to your friends/family. If anything using web-enabled voip phones shoud be "as easy" if not easier as traditional phones...not more difficult..


Think about this.. why would I buy a phone product that in order for me to use it, I have to:

Step1, download a software (need software to talk)

Step2, Make sure my daughter/son,wife, mother, uncle, aunt, grandma all downloaded this same a software (believe or not this is a "necessary step" since you simply cannot talk if th e person on the other end did not download skype )

Step3 Turn on your PC (Yes this is a required step..PCs must be on to talk)

Step4, unplug my traditioanal phone, plug in the voip phone in the , and make an internet connection (family also have to make a connection)..This step may not be required since it could be a one-time connection set up.

Step5, pick up the phone and dial

As you can see, the old easy one (1) step process is now at least 4 steps? People simply will not change their habits that easy. Not until something that is extremely very easy to use come out that is also simply one (1) step process, quick, and does not require a pc to be on 24/7.


The cordless Voip phone is a good leap forward but we have to find a way to talk without having to plug our PCs on the electrical power 24/4 7days (has anyone studied how much extra money we are paying by having the pc plug on 24/7 ?).

Question.. Can the ethernet option solve the pC on 24/7 problem?


This method of calling using VOIP via USB/PC on 24/7 will simply will "not" work unless we expect everyone to become PC savy, and we all know that just won't happen.

There's a reason why VOIP is taking this long to be adapted.... It's just a painful process just to make a simple call, although we may save some money.

Any Idea about my comnents?

==============================================

It is a dual purpose phone and it is doing a fine job together with every other VoIP HW and SW. When you want to save money calling long distance or for long hours to talk you start your PC. Othervice you relay on the fixed line part of it. Even if not using or even not buying they save people money, since Skype and the other VoIP got going, prices per minute are down to zero for the off busyness hours or even full day, full week, thats dual benefit too.
So don't worry you will get a chance later PSTN/POTS/fixed line will disapear in 10 years.
And lost of people I know off from Skype are old, seing a 80 year all by him self; setting up, updating, using Skype and Dualphone just fine.
jyden

P.S. And that's only a little slice out of whole the IP cake.

Skype may not be for everyone, but it's easy to set up and it works. Very well. And it's free. So I don't understand what people can possibly have to complain about. PC is on 24/7? Ok, that's a point I suppose, but some people do that anyway, so they are spending no more money by running skype. If you have a server you can use then even better, that HAS to be on 24/7 so no loss.

Skype in conjunction with a phone like the dualphone is superb and makes free international calling a doddle.

The PC on 24/7 was one point but

The "main" point was the hascle, the extra steps on both sides..The person making the call (sender) and the receiver (The person receiving the call).

A phone call is an instanteneous task requires no special instructions on the part of "the receiver." With the traditional phones, the receiver simply picks the phone and talk.

Now the receiver has to :
1) turn on the PC if required
2) Log in connect to the net and make sure the mikecrophone, speakers, are connected and has sound.
3) Sign on to their version of Skype
4) Pick up Skype handset and Talk
and the sender must make sure the receiver is online (that's a problem and inconvenient).

In order to talk, you must always have the Skype plug in tool connected on both the sender/receiver sides..That's the issue.

I do not want to put that kind of "burden" on my family and friends in order to talk to them. Sometimes we just want to talk while relaxing such as laying down on the sofa or watching TV but not connected in front of a PC.

I do think skype will work one day but.. they are too many requirements to make the call.

If hardware and the plug-in tools are a must then, it should be transparent like this:

The sender simply dialed up a number with a Skype-enable cordless handset phone to a receiver who also has a Skype-enable cordless handset phone. Both phones are wirelessly connected to the PCs that have Skype tools installed via Ethernet so the PC won't be on 24/4. Now both people just start talking. Although both sides would require skyple hardware inside the phones and PCs, but again the Skype-enable cordless handset phones use wireless connections to the PC/Plug-in tools.

It's now really a one-step process.

Skype should really think about these comments, and I do have more Ideas.

Any more comments

What you describe is almost exactly what I do now. I call my family in the USA from the UK on my dualphone cordless phone, I can be anywhere in the house and use my phone just like any other PSTN phone call. There is no "hassle".

Loobster...Right...

I guess I can send an instant message without being connection either via a land line or wireless too right? So, then why do Skype required user ID's accounts, plug-in?

This topic is "not" about the Dualphone product in particular. It's about solving a problem. Finding an easy way to talk without all the headaches.

We need Unbiased, Objective and Impartial opinions.

BEFORE ANYONE BUY ANY HARDWARE, THEY SHOULD READ THIS WHOLE THREAD, THE LINKS BELOW OR THEY MAY NOT BE SATISFIED WITH THEIR PURCHASEs UNLESS THEY DON"T MIND HAVING PCs ON 24/7

Here's a true opinion on this link (
http://forum.skype.com/viewtopic.php?t=388...light=dualphone

See response by daenney

Joined: 11 Oct 2005
Posts: 5 )

Also see
http://forum.skype.com/viewtopic.php?t=372...hlight=ethernet

Thanks

Everyone who downloads skype knows that you need to have a PC on to use it. Most people have a mic and speakers and therefore will have ZERO initial outlay, no VOIP-compatible router to buy and no paid service to subscribe to.

Therefore people who use skype and people who buy VOIP hardware are slightly different groups.

How about if this thread was entitled "VOIP, a good start but it costs you cash to set it up".

It's each to their own, no point in complaining about a product that is FREE to obtain and FREE to use.

any more replies?

There is in Skype Journal:

A Different Type of Skype Competitor
And
SkypeGnome? Buy Your Skyper PhoneGnome for Xmas
jyden

Great..Now we're talking... Good work on the part of PhoneGnome.

What simplicity hun!!! . This has huge potential. If you've read what I've said on this post , then you will agree that simplicity wins! period!

The reason the traditional phone has been successful and has been around for 100's of years is "not" because of hype. It's because it solves a comunication problem in the simplest way possible. No gadgets, gizmos, or any hype product will just simply replace it. It doesn't work that way. With the traditional phone, you can make a "surprise" call effortlessly to your son, daughter, or any family member without any "requirements" on their part.


So, this PhoneGnome "could be" huge ..Read..Read..all about.

However, on the http://www.phonegnome.com/faq.html#q02 site , it says


"When you dial the number of another PhoneGnome enabled phone, the call is automatically sent over your high-speed internet connection at no additional cost - talk as long as you want for free no matter where they are in the world."

What does that mean? do they mean I can "only" call people who already have PhoneGnome ? Can I call someone who do not have a PhoneGnome but only a traditional phone? Can anyone explain this?

But no need to get "too optimistic" about PhoneGnome since you still "need a traditional line " for it to work. So, it's "not" the final "breakthrough" product consumers are looking for. The final breakthough VOIP phone will have all the features of PhoneGnome but do "not" need a traditional phone line to work.

The breakthough VOIP phone can simply be pluged into your high-speed ethernet LAN network and just talk.

I don't want to spend 5-15 minutes just setting up a phone call. As they say time is money. I know.. I do have high expections but why not? Why should anyone settle for products that make our lives harder instead of easier just to save a few pennies.


Any comnents?



Thanks

[quote=me123]The PC on 24/7 was one point but

The "main" point was the hascle, the extra steps on both sides..The person making the call (sender) and the receiver (The person receiving the call).

A phone call is an instanteneous task requires no special instructions on the part of "the receiver." With the traditional phones, the receiver simply picks the phone and talk.

Now the receiver has to :
1) turn on the PC if required
2) Log in connect to the net and make sure the mikecrophone, speakers, are connected and has sound.
3) Sign on to their version of Skype
4) Pick up Skype handset and Talk
and the sender must make sure the receiver is online (that's a problem and inconvenient).

In order to talk, you must always have the Skype plug in tool connected on both the sender/receiver sides..That's the issue.

I do not want to put that kind of "burden" on my family and friends in order to talk to them. Sometimes we just want to talk while relaxing such as laying down on the sofa or watching TV but not connected in front of a PC.

I do think skype will work one day but.. they are too many requirements to make the call.

If hardware and the plug-in tools are a must then, it should be transparent like this:

The sender simply dialed up a number with a Skype-enable cordless handset phone to a receiver who also has a Skype-enable cordless handset phone. Both phones are wirelessly connected to the PCs that have Skype tools installed via Ethernet so the PC won't be on 24/4. Now both people just start talking. Although both sides would require skyple hardware inside the phones and PCs, but again the Skype-enable cordless handset phones use wireless connections to the PC/Plug-in tools.

It's now really a one-step process.

Skype should really think about these comments, and I do have more Ideas.

Any more comments[/quote]

What you're describing is already possible - though not exactly with Skype. If you've discovered any sip based devices especially the plug n dial - then you simply plug them into your router and you can use them as you would any normal phone. No need for a PC and these devices can stay online forever...like a regular phone would.

At first I was using sipphone with these devices, and the quality was unbelievable..at that time sipphone even had free calls to Australia - then I discovered that there were many 'sip based' providers out that that could actually give you numbers in countries where skype hasn't yet gotten any call in numbers + they could even give you unlimited calling for a small monthly fee...that way you could still call your friends/family on traditional phones without worrying about 'topping up'. but best of all, your friends on the sipphone network could still reach you via sip uri calling or even sipbroker.

So the world you dream about is already there, you just haven't found it yet.