Should Apple Acquire VoIP company Skype?

[MacBytes]

Category: Opinion/Interviews
Link: Should Apple Acquire VoIP company Skype? (http://www.macbytes.com/link.php?sid=20040918093721)
Posted on MacBytes.com (http://www.macbytes.com)

Approved by Mudbug

[Raiden]

If apple could pull it off, it would be amazing, and would change the face of the modern phone.

Imagine being able to call and recieve calls from anyone across the US/canada/europe, wherever from YOUR MAC. Integrated call waiting, 3 way calling, etc. Your hardrive would be your answering machine. Address book would be your roledex. Apple could even take it a step farther. Annoying telemarketers? Blocking them would be a sinch.

Anyway, im sure the hurdles for something like that would be huge, but stuff like Skype shows promice, and I think with the visionary approach apple takes, it could definatly be the wave of the future...

[Santaduck]

could the internet as it exists today handle the load if the service really was promoted by apple and became popular?

AT&T's VoIP promotion is already starting, even w/the underdeveloped infrastructure-- note the us market television adverts for VoIP during the athens olympics.

[bertagert]

If apple could pull it off, it would be amazing, and would change the face of the modern phone.

Imagine being able to call and recieve calls from anyone across the US/canada/europe, wherever from YOUR MAC. Integrated call waiting, 3 way calling, etc. Your hardrive would be your answering machine. Address book would be your roledex.

Too bad Vonage has this already. Plus, rumor has it the AT&T's Callvantage will have a software phone for your laptop as well. Some one wrote an Apple script for dialing the people in your phonebook.app but thats not the same. All AT&T has to do is make the software to go on the computer. When that happens, I'll be a happy camper.

Incase anyone wants to know. I had Vonage for a month but the call quality was poor (weird because my friend has it and everything works like a champ). Anywho, I switched over to Callvantage and each and every call is like calling from a regular phone. I even plugged the the Telephone adapter into my home phone line so I can use the service just like I have always done. Now my phone bill went from $120 down to $20. Not to shabby.

Sorry for that, back to the topic. I don't think Apple should get into the phone biz. I say stay focused on computers and ipods.

[foofan]

I've been using Vonage for about 10 months and i love it. The quality is great and I only pay $17 month with taxes. I got to keep my same phone number. I also recently moved and didn't have to worry about getting a new phone number, unlike SBC

[macridah]

I bet if apple made that move, then microsoft would follow soon after.

[Santaduck]

another related article urging apple to start VoIP

http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/index.cfm?NewsID=9655&Page=1&pagePos=9

[bbarnhart]

The problem with VoIP is that soon it will become a commodity. Everyone will be selling it and there will be cut throat prices. And, we all know how Apple loves high margins *cough* headless iMac *cough*.

[Santaduck]

The problem with VoIP is that soon it will become a commodity. Everyone will be selling it and there will be cut throat prices. And, we all know how Apple loves high margins *cough* headless iMac *cough*.

unless they use the low margins in a high volume service product to push profits in a high margin hardware product....

a la ITMS/iPod.