Mixed Signals
Any sufficiently advanced information is indistinguishable from noise
Friday 9 January 2009, 2:34 PM
Skype Lite? Don't bite.
Cut down, I can live with. But after loading Skype Lite (Market is every bit as swift and painless as the Apple Appstore, although we'll have to see how it goes when paid-for software turns up in Q1), it got plain weird. "Receiving calls will use your Skype Credit", it warned. Uh? Then, it insisted on me inputting my phone number before it would allow me to log on.
It turns out that Skype Lite isn't a true wireless VoIP service. Instead, it makes a local call over the phone system to connect to the Skype network, and calls your phone over a gateway when people want to call you. Thus, it costs you more to use than just getting people to call your phone directly - and eats away at your network minutes when you use it to talk to someone else.
It also turns out that Skype Lite lasted around three minutes on my G1 before being uninstalled.
Why it was designed that way and what Skype hope to achieve are both utterly mysterious - but unless you make a lot of overseas calls and don't mind paying for your Skype buddies to call you, I'd give this particular experiment in convergeance a miss.
PreviousComments on this post
Isn't this also the way 3's Skype client works? Although in 3's case, I think the call minutes used for Skype are in effect free and don't come off your inclusive allowance.
I don't know - I haven't used 3's Skype phone.
It's a bit moot for me, as I don't use up my minutes every month as it is. The only thing it would be useful for would be when I was overseas and in wi-fi range (can't afford data roaming). But having to pay for other people's incoming Skype calls is remarkably unattractive!
Hi Rupert - you're absolutely right; the calling functionality works best for people who have generous inclusive minutes allowances (or are on the 3 network). In those instances, being able to call landlines and mobiles around the world for a few pence a minute from your mobile is an attractive proposition.
And don't forget that even if you're paying to receive Skype calls, the person calling isn't paying a thing, relieving friends and family overseas of the burden of making expensive international phone calls when getting in touch.
Hi, Peter...
Yes, there are places where this would be a good deal - and if you don't like it, you don't have to use it.
The thing that concerns me most, though, is the dilution of the "Skype-to-Skype=free" idea. If someone sees me on their Skype buddy list as online and decides to call me, it's not really fair for them to have to work out whether that call will be costing me money. The deal suddenly gets a lot more confusing - and that's always been one of VoIP's most vulnerable aspects compared to POTS.
