Chatting Up the Intarweb

Yesterday’s manic buzzing and twittering all across the ‘net about Google’s new beta, Google Talk (or GTalk as it was quickly dubbed) didn’t really thrill me—although I did set up Adium to connect to it, despite having no one else I know to talk to. I mean, a new IM system/protocol/service? I’m inclined to just hit the snooze button and you can wake me up when something, you know… happens.

However, all the hubbub about GTalk did get people into a mood to discuss online communications in general. This led to people mentioning things like Gizmo, Vonage and Skype. Voice Over IP and voice chatting (audio IM? whatever) aren’t new by any stretch, but Google’s 750-pound gorilla getting in on the act has people speculating that they may be either angling to buy Skype or angling to trash their business, leaving VoIP providers and the few smaller projects like Gizmo floundering.

I personally don’t think Skype has much to worry about. Google’s incessant beta tests (seriously, Gmail is still in beta) and their lack of a “shake-up” feature (such as Gmail’s then-unheard-of massive disk space allotment) in GTalk doesn’t seem to have anything compelling to offer over Skype except the Google name. But this isn’t about Google vs. Skype or really about Google at all.

What got me thinking was Skype itself. I’d heard of Skype and Vonage and all that before, but I’d never really paid it much attention. For one thing, I don’t make a lot of really expensive calls. Some, sure, but not enough that I’m constantly working that angle to try and lower my phone bill. But like anyone else, if there was an acceptable way to reduce any bill I get, I’d be interested. What turned me off about Vonage was that it didn’t really fix my primary problem with phone conversations; that being the phone itself. Vonage converts your home phones into VoIP, which is nifty in a “gee, they can do that” kind of way but not really thrilling when your one and only phone is a crummy SBC model with a seven centimeter cord that just happens to be the only phone you’ve owned in the last six years that functions.

I’ve ranted about my trials and tribulations with telephones before, but the only pertinent rehash that needs to be done here is to remind you that since I became solely responsible for providing me and my household with telephone service I have burned through an estimated $400 or more on telephones, accessories, services and doctor’s bills in a vain effort to have something that works as a means to remotely communicate with friends and family members in a voice-to-voice format. Add in the expense for goods and services which (more or less) allowed me to achieve that goal and it’s been a lot of money with not a lot of return.

Given my detest for the phone system in general and contrasting that with my (likely obvious) fondness for other means of communication, I began to look at Skype in a different way yesterday. In essence it comes down to this: I use the telephone (I’m referring to the wired box in our bedroom that plugs into the wall and we pay for every month) to call maybe ten people. Of those people, perhaps four of them live far enough away that “long distance” calling becomes a factor to the extent where cell phones might be too expensive of an option should the conversations ever get too long. Everyone else I call I’m inclined to do so on my cell phone.

Pardon a quick digression but I feel I should explain my cell phone situation. I get my cell through work, who provides a (crummy, half broken, secondhand, 1998-model) phone and for $10 a month gives me personal use ability. However, the “personal use” is full of stipulations which restrict or outright prohibit expensive features like SMS (text messages), long distance, downloadable ringtones or anything that would add up to more than $10 per month in incurred charges. I’m not really complaining as it is a free phone after all. But what it comes down to is that I have the phone for emergencies at work and I’m really supposed to treat it as if I used it for emergencies at home, too. In protest for this I have never enabled voicemail on it and while I carry it around most places, I don’t really make a concerted effort to have it on me at all times.

All my other communication comes from IM, IRC, email, this site and in-person. Looking at these facts I realize that I “talk” to most people with my computer as it is. Those I don’t I probably talk to with mobile means anyway. So if I need a cell phone and would prefer to communicate via computer in all other cases, why do I still have a landline?

There are two stumbling blocks here: One is emergency services (911) and the other is bandwidth. Skype doesn’t allow emergency service calls (and you’d have to log in through your computer anyway which would probably defeat the purpose of the quick 911 phone call) so it would be fairly imperative to have the cell phone on, charged and nearby at all times. Also, since Skype uses the broadband connection and at least in our household we have a lot of connected stuff including two computers, the XBox and two TiVos, if we thrust the phone service in there, collisions and slowdowns might be a problem for our puny DSL line.

The 911-via-cell isn’t much of an issue at least looking from this side. If a cell phone is your primary calling tool, I’m guessing I’d just learn to have it with me. The bandwidth thing could actually be a blessing in disguise since as I understand it the cable company has come calling around lately looking for people to sign up with their internet service. I would love nothing more than to not just shut SBC phone service down but cancel my DSL account along the way. If nothing else it might be worth it to, considering the expanding uses we’re finding for our internet connection, invest in a more significant pipe anyway.

So what am I missing? Is there any compelling reason not to ditch traditional phone service, use Skype for at-home calling (even using their SkypeOut is cheaper for calling to regular phone lines than picking up my phone) and get a decent cell phone service plan for everything else?

I Have Thoughts. I Will Share. You Won’t Care.

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