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Recycled Computing

I Want a Mobile Phone, Walkie-Talkie, and VOIP Phone in a Single Device

- 2008.08.05

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Every once in a while, it would be nice to have more money. This thought usually occurs to me after I get my monthly cell phone bill. I have three teenagers and . . . I don't think I need to explain anything more.

I figured I'd better think up a way to make a gazillion dollars.

Eureka! I just thought one up. Now in order to do this, I'm going to need to own a cell phone company or a cell phone manufacturing company.

Hmmm, this is going to be a little bit more complicated than I thought.

I admire Apple's iPhone in that it will be another way for Apple and AT&T to make gazillions of dollars, and the iPhone is an innovation a light year ahead of the current "smart" phone market. However, no one is going to say that owning an iPhone on AT&T is going to be cheap. I have heard that the AT&T charges at least 50 smackers a month to use the iPhone on it's network. The iPhone has a web browser (heck, it has OS X on it), but you can't use the iPhone as an Internet phone (yet).

"http://www.jdoqocy.com/click-272632-10576657">Skype would be perfect with an iPhone, but I can't see AT&T will sitting still for that.

If an iPhone or an Internet cell phone isn't near a WiFi spot, you can't use it to browse the Internet or make a VOIP call. And if your cell phone isn't near a cell phone tower (this can happen out here in rural America), you have an expensive doorstop.

Furthermore, when I go to the mall, my crew splits up faster than you can say "Sale! 50 percent off!" In order to regroup (it's a big mall) I have to call my wife at a clothing store, my daughter at the jewelry store, and my sons at Game Stop. As I make these calls, my cellphone company is gleefully charging me money. A walkie-talkie would solve this problem, but it would be just another product to purchase and carry.

Doesn't it make sense to have a phone that does all three?

T-Mobile offers a phone and service that lets you make cellphone calls and VOIP (Voice over IP) calls. And Nextel offers a walkie-talkie service with its cell phones. But nobody has the whole kit and kaboodle.

Imagine having a portable communication device that allows you to use VOIP when you are near a hotspot (I ran into one at a McDonald's, of all places), a regular cell service when you're not near a hotspot, and use it as a portable two-way radio when you're near another user or out in the woods.

I need an iTalk. (Has Steve Jobs trademarked that? I'll just bet someone has.)

It's three, three, three phones in one.

Meanwhile, I'd better pay that cellphone bill.

Recent Recycled Computing Columns

The Apple Patient, 03.15. The used 12" PowerBook has a dead screen, missing key, damaged case, and minimal memory, but it does work.
Apple's Almost Netbook, 03.08. No, Apple didn't really make a netbook, but the 12" PowerBook G4 certainly came close - and with far less compromises than a real netbook.
iPad Perfect for Handheld Computing, 02.05. You can hold the iPad in one hand and operate it with the other, giving it real advantages over a laptop computer.
The iPad Changes the Mobile Game, 01.29. The iPad goes beyond Apple's Newton and iPod touch legacy to create a new and compelling mobile platform.
More in the Recycled Computing index.

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