The Jeff Pulver Blog: Highway Skype Revisted

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November 02, 2003

Highway Skype Revisted

While it is easy for many of us to get excited the early adoption of IP Communication technologies, (I've been watching this space for 8+ years), the fun will really start when/if we start to see signs of stickiness for the current wave of VoIP products and services.

It is one thing for a team to figure out the short-term tactical problems of home firewall NAT traversal and empower a generation of people to be able to freely engage in PC to PC community. But it will be up to the communities affected to decide how/when/where they choose to use these products and how often to rely on these products.

PC to PC communication isn't really new. But what is new is the level of penetration the Internet has, the immediate worldwide availability of high-speed broadband access and computer platforms, which support and encourage multimedia communication.

I don't believe this is about the advent of free communication. This is about something more and yet different.

The team at Skype has done a great job in helping a new generation become aware how easy it is to communicate using VoIP. But before any of us can talk about a true communications revolution, we need to take a hard look at the communication habits of this segment of the "always on" generation and see how much, if any, of their core communication needs is being replaced by the advent of services like Skype rather than depending upon their cell phones and/or other communication products & services.

The present signs are for the coming of a true "Consumer Communications Revolution" but it will be up to the people to decide what part of the next phase of this revolution they will be a part of.

And don't forgot that in the case of any revolution, you should expect to see those effected fighting back with the tools they are most effective in using - in this case it will be and is telecom regulations.

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Posted by jeff on November 2, 2003 07:13 AM | Permalink

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Comments

Not correct as more and more hotspots are being rolled out where wireless laptops already today use the technology offered by skype. Large telecoms are rolling them out like BT here in the UK and hotels airports, companies, univerities, school, even burger joints, all over the place. Are the telecomms backstabbing themsleves while doing so I dont know but it looks cool in the future check out www.xtconnect.com and www.ask4.com for soem good examples I helped develop de software for billing behind the hotspots discussed. I hope this answers a few questions having UPnP and NAT traversal makes Skype unique and the most powerfull application today as no engineer is required to setup an inexperieced user a kid could set it up if he has a microphone and knows where to plug it into the internet enbled workstation, server or standalone machine, skype runs on all MS OS above window 2000.

Superb product no doubt in my mind.

Cheers

Cahrlie

Posted by: Charles Osstyn at December 9, 2003 12:15 PM

Fun new tech.

Posted by: dave at December 7, 2003 05:18 PM

Jeff,

Isn't it just a question of time before Skype is on a Samsung phone, running Wi-Fi where possible, GPRS where not?

Posted by: Nikolaj Nyholm at November 11, 2003 10:33 AM