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If phones didn’t already exist…

Voice over IP is a misnomer. It only looks like voice now because it’s replacing a voice-based technology. But it’s really about calls.

Why assume that phone calls have to be audio only? That’s an artifact of the current infrastructure. If you were starting from scratch and didn’t have lines that only knew how to carry sound but could carry any type of bit you’d build something far different. It’d integrate with other applications on your phone device. It’d know who’s calling from where and spin up a web page to show you the relevant information. It’d link to everything the Net knows. It might assume an open mike — not a two-person conversation — as the default. It wouldn’t assume that each phone call is essentially separate from every other; it would assume they can cluster into threads the way emails do. Or perhaps it’d find a more natural lumping than threads, including joining with other types of communication. It’d provide IM as a backchannel for multiperson phone calls. It’d give you visual bits as well as audio ones. It would do things that no one can predict because the genius of the market hasn’t yet invented them. But it is in the process.

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8 Responses to “If phones didn’t already exist…”

  1. Brilliant observation! And by the way, the next time you run into “the genius of the market” would you give him or her my email address? I’d like some investment advice.

  2. I totally agree. It would also archive, index, and allow Tivo-like functionality and I could access it through all my e-devices. I want it now…

    It would also be a great training tool. Image being able to revisit your calls regularly or have a peer review them with you.

  3. On line one, the 21st Century calling

    I’ve become obsessed with VoIP (Voice over IP) lately, having abandoned any local phone service for a 100% high-speed wireless home. Part of the package is a VoIP phone, which is a first for me (I know, so behind the…

  4. Everything Over IP.

    David Weinberger is theorizing that Voice Over IP could be much more than just phone calls. You could add audio, video, even IM. Actually this idea isn’t new; I was working Everything Over IP about 5 years ago, and Vonage…

  5. The Q-Card Jyve-Tag

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  6. The Q-Card Jyve-Tag

    So what makes the first Skype application from Qzoxy and Jyve so very interesting? It’s a smart VCard and here is a picture and of the working prototype today, a mere illustration of what will exist a year from now. If you are operating a call center, …

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