I still have a mobile but it does not leave home. I do not make or get many calls so it suits me to not be contactable at all times. Skype on the iPod Touch is how I return all my calls. As for emergencies, I am not going to let fear motivate me to carry something; there is only so much space in my pockets and if I am running from a tidal wave in December, 2012 then I doubt my mobile would help.
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iPod touch Does anyone use Skype + ipod touch as their main phone?
- Thread starter DoNoHarm
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I don't equate fear to emergencies.
I have traveled about 8,000 miles since June 18 taking my kids to various doctors and evals (mainly just my middle child). All of those have been out of town - the closest is 45 minutes away (only 22 miles though), the furthest being 137 miles away. That isn't all my driving, just the logged medical related miles.
It's not fear that is making me carry my phone on these outings - it's the knowledge that something WILL happen at some point. And, it's Florida and i'm not standing on the side of the road trying to wave down someone, alligators and bad guys and such. I normally do not have a pocket full of money nor a debit card with any on it (nasty divorce in progress, yes he thinks it is acceptable to let his child head out of town 3 hours away and me to have $10 for gas and food).
But your statement struck me wrong this morning. Carrying a simple electronic device that can help me keep my kids safer isn't fear driven, it's just stacking the odds more in my favor.
(and now i have a newly diagnosed epileptic child, i'd not be excited about needing medical attention on the road i take to her neurologist - there aren't call boxes nor anything for a LONGGGGG stretch)
From your account, it is still fear that motivates you to carry a phone and depend on it for your assurance. Perhaps your fear is relatively justified; after all, by having children with you the chances of an emergency are multiplied. Also if you travel outside of any town a Skype-based solution would be limited and so you would be better off with a cellular-network phone. Personally I am living in different circumstances and a Skype phone suits my telephony needs better than a normal mobile has in the past.
I should also add that fear motivates me to not carry a mobile because I am weary of getting cancer in the balls.
an interesting question. Also, what if you had a skypeout line. would it just send you to the 911 of whatever area code you have?
In canada here you don't need an active sim or anything. Any cell phone can make a 911 call regardless of the account. Its the law.
I don't think skype works with 911.
https://support.skype.com/faq/FA29/...ber-e-g-112-211-999-and-911?frompage=category
No. All cell phones in the US, even ones that have no active SIM card installed, can call 911 just as in Canada.
a couple of things.
I have that same belkin wifi phone and the battery lasts about as long as the ipod touch when using skype. you need to plug the phone in frequently to keep it charged throughout the day.
also another neat thing about having a skype number is when you are traveling abroad you can make a local US phone call with your us phone number on skype. I have done this several times in my travels which has allowed me to avoid any international rates.
I personally use my ipod touch with skype for my main phone. but I do have a prepaid phone for emergencies which I rarely ever need. I just give me prepaid number to everyone and call them back with my skype number later. if it is an emergency and that person needs to get a hold of me asap, they know to text the number if I don't pick up. this has cut down on expenses big time. love it.
I have that same belkin wifi phone and the battery lasts about as long as the ipod touch when using skype. you need to plug the phone in frequently to keep it charged throughout the day.
also another neat thing about having a skype number is when you are traveling abroad you can make a local US phone call with your us phone number on skype. I have done this several times in my travels which has allowed me to avoid any international rates.
I personally use my ipod touch with skype for my main phone. but I do have a prepaid phone for emergencies which I rarely ever need. I just give me prepaid number to everyone and call them back with my skype number later. if it is an emergency and that person needs to get a hold of me asap, they know to text the number if I don't pick up. this has cut down on expenses big time. love it.
I'm going to try this for a few months and if it works, great. If not, the test will save me enough money to buy the ipod touch within three months (instead of paying AT&T)
wow, so i've been using it or a week and already i can say that while the concept seems to work fine, the battery life of the ipod touch really isn't up to snuff. It's a brand new unit and I only get like 1 hour of call time at best.
I was just about to do this as well. I have a 64gb 3g ipod touch and as soon as i can jailbreak it i will use it as my main phone. As you said, it is $65 per year for almost everythng you have from a normal phone. A savings of about 95% from my iphone 3g. I have already set up internet in my car (anywhere in my city) via clear wimax so there are not many places where i am out of wifi anymore. If you wanted to carry around a 3g hotspot, you could theoretically have access to wifi all of the time. The verizon mifi is a good solution for this. The Clear 4g router is a bit too bulky to carry around all the time unless you are a girl and can put it in your purse.
As to the battery not lasting long enough, I'd suggest buying some battery on-the-go charging devices. I have one by 3g juice for $55 that basically acts as a second battery. They are very small and you can use the device while it is charging easily. You could theoretically buy a few of those and then multiply the 1hr battery life proportionally.
As to the battery not lasting long enough, I'd suggest buying some battery on-the-go charging devices. I have one by 3g juice for $55 that basically acts as a second battery. They are very small and you can use the device while it is charging easily. You could theoretically buy a few of those and then multiply the 1hr battery life proportionally.
The only problem with doing this is that you can't call 911 for emergencies.
Trust me, you're going to have to call 911 at least once in your life for your sake or to help others and you don't want to be stuck with a phone that can't dial out for help when you do.
Trust me, you're going to have to call 911 at least once in your life for your sake or to help others and you don't want to be stuck with a phone that can't dial out for help when you do.
As I mentioned before, in Canada atleast if you have a cell phone with no money on it. 911 will still work. So you can have a old phone that is used for 911 only. I am not certain on other countries though.
that is a minor concern. you would have to be completely out of wifi range and still need to dial 911. if i am at home, school, work, car i have internet and can make the call. if i am walking from the car to the home, i do not have internet, but this is obviously a miniscule portion of my day.
the alternatives are to grab another prepaid phone for like 10c/min for emergencies, or to get an unlocked iphone and drop in a prepaid sim card there. make most of your calls via wifi, but having the unlocked iphone you would be able to receive calls anywhere via cell phone and also be able to do the outgoing 911 calls.
i have a 3g iphone in addition to my 64gb touch but it is significantly slower so i am trying to get my ipod up and running as the main phone. i was considering buying an unlocked iphone from hong kong when they drop in june, but if i can do this all from a touch, i would rather do that. both for the challenge and the rebellious nature to apple's totalitarian authority.
the alternatives are to grab another prepaid phone for like 10c/min for emergencies, or to get an unlocked iphone and drop in a prepaid sim card there. make most of your calls via wifi, but having the unlocked iphone you would be able to receive calls anywhere via cell phone and also be able to do the outgoing 911 calls.
i have a 3g iphone in addition to my 64gb touch but it is significantly slower so i am trying to get my ipod up and running as the main phone. i was considering buying an unlocked iphone from hong kong when they drop in june, but if i can do this all from a touch, i would rather do that. both for the challenge and the rebellious nature to apple's totalitarian authority.
Yes, this is true but Skype does NOT make emergency calls and to carry another phone for the sake of 911 is now self-defeating, isn't it?
May I ask how you have internet in your car?
I've thought about it, but very quickly decided it's not worth it because the iPod Touch can't "ring" unless I leave it on Skype *all* the time... but what's the point of having the Touch if I can't use it on anything else? Yes, there are the notifications, but unless I'm using the Touch when the notification comes up, I'm not going to know it rang.
That and the lack of 911 and the fact that I don't have WiFi wherever I go mean that there's no way I'm using my Touch instead of my cell.
That and the lack of 911 and the fact that I don't have WiFi wherever I go mean that there's no way I'm using my Touch instead of my cell.
the ipod touch can receive calls if you have it jailbroken and run the app in the background. i am waiting before i can do this to start ramping up the usage on skype.
i have wifi in my car because i have clear 4g wimax mobile router that allows a few people to connect within 30 feet of the device. it is plugged into cigarette lighter, so whenever car is on, i have internet (in certain cities).
i have wifi in my car because i have clear 4g wimax mobile router that allows a few people to connect within 30 feet of the device. it is plugged into cigarette lighter, so whenever car is on, i have internet (in certain cities).
when you were out of range of one of the main hotspots, all incoming calls would go to voicemail. at the moment skype also cannot receive incoming texts so this is unfortunate. an ipod touch with skype gives you about 80% of the features of a cell phone at 5% of the cost.
using unlocked iphone with prepaid sim is the better plan, as you get the additional features such as receiving calls/texts when out of wifi range. it would only cost a few dollars more and then you wouldnt even need to buy a number from skype (saving $30/year). being on an iphone, the battery would do far better when using it as a phone as you wouldnt need to make all calls via speaker. i like the idea of being able to make calls from an ipod touch, but it is definitely inferior to an unlocked iphone.
skype unlim calling is $36 a year. texts cost $0.10 and calls are 10c/min on t-mobile prepaid. $50 for the entire year would get you far more than what at&t offers you for $1200/year.
using unlocked iphone with prepaid sim is the better plan, as you get the additional features such as receiving calls/texts when out of wifi range. it would only cost a few dollars more and then you wouldnt even need to buy a number from skype (saving $30/year). being on an iphone, the battery would do far better when using it as a phone as you wouldnt need to make all calls via speaker. i like the idea of being able to make calls from an ipod touch, but it is definitely inferior to an unlocked iphone.
skype unlim calling is $36 a year. texts cost $0.10 and calls are 10c/min on t-mobile prepaid. $50 for the entire year would get you far more than what at&t offers you for $1200/year.