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Mobile phone numbers could be obsolete by 2020! GMAIL CALLING makes this a possibilty
- Thread starter Bonds79
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it could work, imagine if apple released ichat for the iphone 4, then made every iphone users get a free mobile me account, similar how google does with android, since ichat has voip abilities now all i have to pay att for is unlimited data, i can make calls and receive calls via my mobile me account and ichat.
What's wrong with it? Google Voice does precisely that except going a step further than Skype giving you a real number. If Carriers would let you buy unlimited data without a phone service this could be happening right now?
I believe it will go that way eventually... but 10 years seems rather quick, even for the technology sector. Phone numbers have been used for almost 100 years without changing significantly. People like to update their hardware but hold on to their number... 
Hope it uses email addresses or the like, but not IPv6 addresses.
On second thought, probably everybody will have a domain name like Last.First.City.State and you could just phone://Last.First.City.State
On second thought, probably everybody will have a domain name like Last.First.City.State and you could just phone://Last.First.City.State
Well I was gonna say it will be
phone://SocialSecurityNumber
email://SSN
http://SSN
but that won't help them either.
Your SSN is never supposed to be given out to ANYONE.
And we are running out of IPv4 IPs, so we will eventually move onto IPv6 addresses.
It's the idea, not the number. I'm saying that everybody will need a common identifier that's also unique.
Let's keep it to random numbers, please. I don't want to worry about more identify fraud issues.
what I like about this concept is, assuming things like skype replaced the wireless providers, we could have devices like iPhones and only have it set up to receive a call when we want to. Without having to go in to "airplane" mode. So you could still get your email and what not but unless you have skype running you won't get calls (or as I often call them, "interruptions").
With wifi starting to blanket major cities I don't think something like this is too far off. I already know people who have replaced their cell phones with iPod Touches using skype. I live in an area where wifi is prevalent, so it works here. But sooner or later people will get sick of getting jipped by the Big 3 and start using alternatives- once the infrastructure is a little more widespread.
With wifi starting to blanket major cities I don't think something like this is too far off. I already know people who have replaced their cell phones with iPod Touches using skype. I live in an area where wifi is prevalent, so it works here. But sooner or later people will get sick of getting jipped by the Big 3 and start using alternatives- once the infrastructure is a little more widespread.
Makes sense. Goes with another article i read about how carriers will no longer offer minutes, and only data eventually.
IPv6 is ideal, but there are a lot of concerns which keep people from moving to it. I know some network admins who fear yet-undiscovered bugs in IPv6 stacks that might allow people to do something like land/teardrop/smurf/ping-of-death attacks that did damage in the IPv4 world.
What I eventually see happening is that IPv6 will be an internet protocol, while companies will still use v4 internally and let the router do the dirty work.
I can agree with this. The one thing I like when I moved to AT&T is that I didn't have to carry my old number with me. It is nice to make a clean break, only tell people you actually want to hear from your new number, rather than offshore telemarketers who got your old number from previous companies you bought from, and who are immune to FCC Do Not Call laws.
correct me if I'm wrong but isn't a telephone number a "random" number. I know. I know. But theres area and city codes. Our world is so connected that area codes and city codes mean very little at this point. Voice calling plans basically are data to the cellular companies so while I don't see phone numbers disappearing I can imagine that some day it will just be an all or nothing type plan. As in you give me 100 for monthly service and you can use your phone how you please. The 100 may be off but unlimited plans right now are about 70 and thats for the less high tech phones.
As they say, be careful for what you wish.
Consider if all calls were VoIP and billed as per byte packet data, instead of the current per minute switched circuit:
If you talked more or in a noisy area, more data will have to be sent (and received, if you're on the other end). Therefore your cost will rise depending on your speech patterns and environment and encoder, not how long you talk.
"How much cell time do I have left this month, dear?"
"You have 214 MB left, honey. Figure it out, and don't go over, or we'll jump into the next price plan bracket!"
"?????!!!"
Consider if all calls were VoIP and billed as per byte packet data, instead of the current per minute switched circuit:
If you talked more or in a noisy area, more data will have to be sent (and received, if you're on the other end). Therefore your cost will rise depending on your speech patterns and environment and encoder, not how long you talk.
"How much cell time do I have left this month, dear?"
"You have 214 MB left, honey. Figure it out, and don't go over, or we'll jump into the next price plan bracket!"
"?????!!!"
I hope not. Phone numbers provide a certain level of anonymity. I don't want people to be able to call me just because they have my name and location.
I think we will all continue to use phone numbers, but voice services will transition to a purely packet-switched data service instead of its current circuit switched implementation. There are VoIP standards that were recently adopted for LTE that do just this.