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Internet Telephone
Break-through or Breakdown?

Here's what Walt, Jackie, and Stephen (best audience submission so far) said... Remember to tell us what you think. The best audience response wins a FREE Spike Webb t-shirt.

 

ack bioJackie Stone
SWP: Everybody seems to be getting pretty excited about telephone applications for the Internet. Jackie, what’s your take on free long distance calls via the Net?

JS: I’ve actually tried a couple of these products and was pretty surprised by how well they work. The first time I talked to somebody was on a friend’s computer at her house. She talked me into trying it and I was just blown away. It’s a strange feeling to use your computer to place a phone call, but it immediately showed me where everything is going.

SWP: So you think a lot of people will get into it and start using the Internet for voice communication?

JS: I think it’s going to take a long time for the capacity of the Net to support a lot of telephone traffic, but yeah, people will use it in larger and larger numbers over the next few years. The capacity or throughput of the Net has to continue to increase. I mean we all want faster connections and servers for a wide range of reasons. Many Web sites want sound and video to be mainstream for their content distribution purposes. The wonderful thing about the Net is you can’t keep people from using its capacity any way they want to.

SWP: Some phone companies are understandably worried. They claim the Internet service providers should not be allowed to offer such services since they are not required to pay the same tariffs. How do you...

JS: Look, sorry to interrupt you, but this doesn’t have to be that complicated. The Internet is bringing new ways of doing business to many different markets. Change is inevitable. The Internet has just accelerated the rate of that change. Things are happening faster than laws can be passed or lobbyists can be hired or bureaucrats can be bribed. I think that’s a step in the right direction. The giant telephone companies will have to figure out how to make themselves important again. That’s good too. If they can’t figure it out, they’ll just take their place in history next to the telegraph, the Pony Express, and the livery stable.

nack bioWalter Dodson
SWP: Walt, Internet long distance telephone calls. Talk all you want on your $19.95 a month Internet connection to anywhere in the world. What do you think?

WD: Oh right, everything is just humming along on the Internet so let’s get as many people as possible to start using it for voice connections. I can’t seem to get Web pages up on my screen without taking a short nap in between them! Why would we encourage voice traffic. In my opinion, Internet telephone products should be as popular as Spam. The sound quality stinks, you can’t call people unless they’re already online, and it’s using bandwidth we need for other purposes. Hopefully the whole thing will just blow over and go away.

SWP: But don’t you think the technology is bringing in a new opportunity for communication and advancement?

WD: You might get me to agree with that if it were an opportunity for lower income families. But as we all know, the price of admission to the Internet is hardware and software that they can’t afford. No this is just a cute techno-trick that people will try once or twice before going back to e-mail. And that’s what it’s supplanting you know? E-mail, not regular telephone calls.

SWP: So you don’t think the phone companies are losing any business?

WD: I’ll bet people who play with Internet phones see their long distance bills go up not down. The Internet calls probably increase the need for regular calls as conversations and relationships heat up. The phone companies will do just fine. You may see a little grandstanding on this issue as they battle out the regulatory issues between long distance carriers and regional phone companies, but I don’t think they’re worried about everybody moving over to the Net for long distance. By the way, whose circuits do you think carry the Internet traffic, anyway?
Stephen J. Fahey says...
Internet Phone Calls are just the beginning. I, too, believed that the Telephone will soon be history, as well as the Television, VCR, etc. If there is any way to 'packet' information over electrical wires, who knows? Electrical wiring may be the only wiring required in our homes some day. The Electric Companies may be the only companies to survive. It scares me to think of the actual potential of the web. If the software that provides communication over the web ever gets to the point where it will dial up your computer if you get a 'voice' call, then the telecommunications companies will no longer be needed. If we can start watching videos and network programming over the web, then cable companies, and video rental stores will all go away. If we can listen to music over the web, then Tower Records, Virgin Records, radio stations, etc., will cease to exist. Many of us would like to watch any video we want, any time we want. And considering what a music fanatic I am, it would be terrific to listen to any song ever recorded, any time that I want to. But look at the consequences: An increasing population, and a decreasing job market. It's very possible that we are in trouble with our technological growth. As a systems consultant, I'm feeling guilty that I'm taking away jobs. I'm currently involved in a project that puts PCs in our attorney's homes. But if I quit my job, I lose my home. Got to survive, right?

Objective: A World Wide Web that can transfer video, music, voice, data, (and electricity?) to every household at the same time.

Results: No more stereo equipment, televisions, vcrs, radios, record companies, cable companies, telecommunications companies, fewer movie theaters, fewer office buildings, gas stations, and automobiles (increased telecommuting), fewer administrative staff (internet banking and billing), fewer stores (internet shopping), less travel (internet conferencing), etc. Where are we going to work in 10 years?

Did I miss anything?