Monday, April 12, 2010

ET Skype Home

International Voip (voice over IP) is growing fast and its implications will revolutionize standard traditional phone calls. Voip is a perfect technology to usher in a better way of addressing the same technology, Like the industrial revolution, to improve a useful, proven, but outdated system, like the landlines used by traditional telephone companies. Voip has made its way onto the Internet backbone to call anywhere in the world for prices affordable by even low income households.

For example, although the of prices for voip is decreasing and the traffic is increasing, the revenue is considered flat for the industry. I predict, however, companies like Skype, who have been in the game for awhile, will profit by increasing their customer base. We have seen this strategy work, for instance, by the 99 cents Only Stores.

I chose this article because I am very interested in utilizing more features that Skype offers. Again, I predict this will replace traditional landlines and traditional telephone sets. People will be able to get telephone calls on literally any Internet attached device equipped with microphone and headset.

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Standardization long overdue for mobile devices

Standardization is a necessary part of any industry. In my opinion, it prompts for a superior product by companies that have the best ideas and manufacturing capabilities. For example, when IBM came out with MCA (micro channel architecture) it had a great deal of potential. It later became one of IBM's downfalls because MCA was not compatible with ISA; that meant the earlier ISA cards would not work at all in a MCA system. The PC market did not like not having backwards-compatibility, as seen by the number of older standars that we still use to this day, such as ISA.

IBM decided to make the MCA bus proprietary. It in fact did this with ISA as well; however in 1981 IBM could afford to flex its muscles in this manner. The clone makers, at that time, were starting to come into their own and were not interested in conforming to IBM's vision.

I wanted to convey this story to the blog audience to prove non-standard does not quarantee for longevity in any marketplace.

On that note, if the battery chargers are not standardized, I am predicting the same fate for companies that will not adapt.

This blog fits in our technology section of our class. We should be interested in this new technology because it will save us time and money in trying to look for a charger that will fix our specific device, for example, a cell phone.