"Todd Allcock" <elecconnec@AmericaOnLine.com> wrote in
news:jgBzj.8432$hg4.4935@fe107.usenetserver.com:

> But Larry, do you not see the irony that you're defending a
> (relatively) overpriced, closed, proprietary service like Skype tooth
> and nail because you believe it represents a good value to you, yet to
> crap on anyone who defends their "SELLphone" data service because
> ubiquitous mobile data represents a good value to them?
>
>
>

I just don't understand why you get your panties all in a wad because
Skype is proprietary, mentioned over and over in this message. To
users, like me, I don't care a bit how proprietary it is because I have
no investment, whatsoever, in its software (free), and have no contract
forcing me to buy it more than until next month, now that the yearly fee
bargains have been discontinued. My price went DOWN since unlimited
went away! I was paying $60/year for a phone number. That's now
$24/number with Skype Pro's $3/mo.

This has nothing to do with Sellphones, of course. I don't defend
Skype, at all, and have no pecuinary interest in whether it lives or
dies. But, I DO point out that crapware like VONAGE is way overpriced
over Skype's costs. If you're happy with simple VoIP interconnects for
$2 less than Skype with all its freebie features...I'm not dumping on
you, at all. The difference between them is 3 quarts of gas at Sunoco.
The difference in what they DO for $2 more is cool. I am stuck with a
Skype Phone I freely admit was a mistake because free wifi has gone to
webpage logons it doesn't support. That has nothing to do with which
VoIP company, just the poor design Netgear did on the Skype phone. The
N800 was purchased, initially, to cover these deficiencies on the road,
which it does, fully.

I have played with Gizmo and the other comm toys on the N800. NONE of
them is the pleasure to use the Skype software on the tablet provides.
I only miss my Skype webcam, but we get around that with Google Talk.

Merely pointing out any alternatives to what's being hawked on a thread
should never have to turn into a brawl-under-a-bridge....but sometimes
it seems it must as hotheads blow off steam.

I'm too old to care....(c;