Google Sets the Date for the End of XMPP with Google Voice
giqcass:
Quote from: mo832 on January 29, 2014, 09:27:53 am
I am of a similar mind to the above. MOST people (emphasis important) didn't want the Obi per se. MOST people wanted [device that makes phone work over internet]. They didn't care what it was called. The advantage of Obi was that it was a one time hardware purchase and the monthly service was free. Now that you need the hardware AND a service plan, for MOST people, who cares which device you use? The Obi is much more versatile, but that is not what MOST people care about. Now your choices are more similar to different cell phone plans: special vs. standard hardware, cost of hardware, price of plans vs. usage, coverage, customer service, reliability, etc. The Obi was [standard device, one time purch, free ongoing service] and the others like MJ, NetTalk, Ooma, Vonage, etc. were [special device, one time purch, paid monthly service] and those competed based on price, ease of use, cust service, features, etc. With the Obi changes coming soon, they just become another paid service to add to the mix, with a slight incumbent's advantage since the users already own the device. But that is no different than someone who owns a CDMA phone and is looking to switch to GSM for better or cheaper or faster service, but they must switch phones to do it.
I remember when AT&T/Cingular turned off their TDMA system, and since everyone had to buy a new phone anyway, there was no compelling reason to re-sign with ATT based on cost. It had to be other factors like keeping the phone number or who had service in your area.
If we are to follow your analogy the Obi is a high end unlocked smartphone that works with 99% of the services available. The only services the Obi does not work with are the few that locked down there services. The fact that the Obi was "unlocked" was a large part of why I bought it. Any reasonable person had to know that the free ride would not last forever.
mo832:
I am not complaining. I am only stating a firm belief (my own) that the mainstream Obi buyer/user (the "MOST" that I referred to above) simply wanted a plug-n-play solution that worked with what was at that time a free service plan. All the neat-o features were secondary and possibly not even known to those people. Now that the service will be paid, the comparison to other services/devices becomes more cloudy.
I like your comparison to the unlocked smart phone. To extend that analogy, imagine a special iphone with 100% functionality that was $79 and you could not buy it used (or it would cripple itself), and it would ONLY work with a new cell service that was free unlimited, with the catch being that you had to log at least 5 minutes per day on a special app installed on the phone that would show you ads. Anyone buying that phone would be happy with all the features it allowed, but the real reason they buy it is for the plan and overall package. If that deal ever ended, they would be looking at any other phone on the market and trying to get the best package they could find, not looking for another identical iPhone that was unlocked. Of course, if you were ALREADY an Apple fanboy and decided to sign up for the deal bc it would not alter your normal routine, you may decide to resume with the iPhone after the deal ends. But you would be in the minority in this hypothetical scenario.
Most people are not hacker geeks. And I would guess most who bought their Obi off of Amazon based on the GV marketing angle were average Joe's. Like the AOL crowd in 1997-2001 who thought they were on the "internet".
lhm.:
"Most people are not hacker geeks. And I would guess most who bought their Obi off of Amazon based on the GV marketing angle were average Joe's. Like the AOL crowd in 1997-2001 who thought they were on the "internet".
An excellent analogy. ;D
MikeHObi:
Quote from: mo832 on January 29, 2014, 05:31:21 pm
Most people are not hacker geeks. And I would guess most who bought their Obi off of Amazon based on the GV marketing angle were average Joe's. Like the AOL crowd in 1997-2001 who thought they were on the "internet".
I don't know if you noticed, but hooking the Obi up to Google voice actually turned out to be somewhat challenging and darn near difficult for those insufficiently geeky. So I tend to believe that while a number of "normal" or norms may have purchased the obi, my guess is that only a small percentage of them are actually using it any longer. The price was low enough that if it didn't work, you wouldn't die going with something else. Vonage and Ooma get their customers from somewhere.
Anyone that is using their Obi with Google voice today as a land line replacement (i.e. they figured out how to get 911 service) should have no problems switching to a more normal voip provider if they want to. I think Obihai could have a good win if they can sign up a provider network that makes it super easy and still beats the costs and features of Vonage and Ooma.
jonsid:
Quote from: SteveInWA on January 28, 2014, 06:36:50 pm
contents of transcribed voicemail messages.
MJ couldn't make it work with ads; people won't stand around watching ads while they talk on their cordless phone. It's a nice idea, but it has a low likelihood of happening.
They said nobody would go to the movies where people were actually speaking on screen either.
I have to watch an ad about every five minutes when I'm watching the news on my OTA TV. I can't turn off the TV and then turn it back on when the ad is over because I don't know when that will be. I can mute the sound, which is what I do.
I got satellite TV thinking that since I was paying for programming there won't be any ads. Wrong! I'm finally out of that!
Now I can't even go to a movie theater without being forced to watch ads.
So if somebody (Google) comes out with a device to replace my home phone, gives me free phone service in exchange for ads that might steam across it I'd probably get it. I'm sure they'd come with inventive ways to keep me from blocking the ads.
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