Am I crazy for thinking of getting rid of my phone? (Skype...)

[TheMetetron]

So I assume most of you know about Skype. If not it's an internet VoIP telephony service.

They have some add-ons that made me start to question having a phone line. $40 a year for unlimited incoming calls. 2.2 cents per minute for all outgoing calls. Obviously, I want people to call me if it's going to be a long conversation.

Seems like a hell of a deal. I'm even considering ditching the cell phone for this. Also, I'd have to dump my DSL to get this instead of a phone line for the house, but I'm thinking of getting cable TV and I can just add a cable modem to that pretty easily. Not a big deal.

So, what am I overlooking? There must be some obvious glaring flaws in my plan. I mean people have been using payphones on the go for years, so why can't I if I "really" need to make a call (and I find, most of my cell phone time isn't time I really need to be on the phone anyways).

Thoughts?

[SammyKid11]

If it's reliable, sounds like it could work. For me, that sounds like too much of a pain in the ass, though.

Also, I think it could seriously impact any game you might have or might develop in the future. "Hey baby...call me right back, I'm cheap and don't wanna pay a phone bill. BTW, you wanna meet up later? Let me know when to stop at a payphone so I can give you a call...I cut my cell phone service because...I'm cheap."

"I don't own a phone of any kind" is typically not that appealing to women. That alone would make it worthwhile for me to not do this.

[Gamblor]

I ditched my land line a year ago, and now use my cell phone for all conversation. VoIP can certainly replace a phone (not a cell, obviously, unless it runs on PDAs also). However, you may want to think twice before completely eliminating all phone-based communication;

most businesses, warranty programs, contests, etc. etc. require an actual phone number. I doubt giving them a skype email address would satisfy their criteria. Communication technology is only as good as the number of people that use it.

I remember about 10 years ago when AT&T first brought out the 5 frames-per-second videophone. One guy in my neighbourhood got it, and then got rid of it when he realized nobody else on the planet had the same phone so the screen just stayed blank all the time.

BTW, if someone hasn't heard of Skype I'd lay 100-1 they have no idea what an "Internet VoIP Telephony" service is either.

[Larimani]

you can get a proper phone number with skype for incoming calls... it costs a tiny bit but is definitly worth is if you want to use it as your main line.

[B Dids]

It's hard to be a very effective member of consumer society without a phone number.

[ddubois]

From what I've read, ditching a land land completely for cell phone is fairly passe nowadays, so the combination of VoIP and cell should almost certainly be good enough to meet your needs.

[jakethebake]

Forget Skype. Use one of the more reliable VOIP services.

[Onaflag]

Whatever technology you choose, make sure 911 gets your address right when you call them while you're possibly unable to speak. Sure would suck to hear the sirens pass your house three or four times or worse yet have you show in their database as some high rise building five states away housing the data center for your voip solution.

Onaflag..........

[daryn]

[ QUOTE ]
I ditched my land line a year ago, and now use my cell phone for all conversation. VoIP can certainly replace a phone (not a cell, obviously, unless it runs on PDAs also). However, you may want to think twice before completely eliminating all phone-based communication;

most businesses, warranty programs, contests, etc. etc. require an actual phone number. I doubt giving them a skype email address would satisfy their criteria. Communication technology is only as good as the number of people that use it.

I remember about 10 years ago when AT&T first brought out the 5 frames-per-second videophone. One guy in my neighbourhood got it, and then got rid of it when he realized nobody else on the planet had the same phone so the screen just stayed blank all the time.

BTW, if someone hasn't heard of Skype I'd lay 100-1 they have no idea what an "Internet VoIP Telephony" service is either.

[/ QUOTE ]

i'll take that 100-1 bet

[tonypaladino]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I ditched my land line a year ago, and now use my cell phone for all conversation. VoIP can certainly replace a phone (not a cell, obviously, unless it runs on PDAs also). However, you may want to think twice before completely eliminating all phone-based communication;

most businesses, warranty programs, contests, etc. etc. require an actual phone number. I doubt giving them a skype email address would satisfy their criteria. Communication technology is only as good as the number of people that use it.

I remember about 10 years ago when AT&T first brought out the 5 frames-per-second videophone. One guy in my neighbourhood got it, and then got rid of it when he realized nobody else on the planet had the same phone so the screen just stayed blank all the time.

BTW, if someone hasn't heard of Skype I'd lay 100-1 they have no idea what an "Internet VoIP Telephony" service is either.

[/ QUOTE ]

i'll take that 100-1 bet

[/ QUOTE ]

You win. I've never head of Skype, but i do know what VOIP is.

[TheMetetron]

[ QUOTE ]
Forget Skype. Use one of the more reliable VOIP services.

[/ QUOTE ]

Like?

[MrTrik]

Yup. Many people get exposed to VOiP technologies that have nothing whatsoever to do with Skype. Especially in the workplace.

[TheMetetron]

I almost think no one read the post.

I get an incoming number from Skype so people can call me just like a regular phone. I live and work in my house so answering a call here shouldn't really be that hard unless I'm going out.

If I really need to call someone when I'm out (the only point of a cell phone), I can do that with a quarter or a phone card. It's not that big a deal (I don't think).

I can also make outgoing calls with Skype, just like people can call me. The same as a regular phone when I'm at home.

I don't know... the idea doesn't seem so awful. It's fairly cheap to try it out and if I decide later I don't like it, no big loss.

[tonypaladino]

[ QUOTE ]
I almost think no one read the post.

I get an incoming number from Skype so people can call me just like a regular phone. I live and work in my house so answering a call here shouldn't really be that hard unless I'm going out.

If I really need to call someone when I'm out (the only point of a cell phone), I can do that with a quarter or a phone card. It's not that big a deal (I don't think).

I can also make outgoing calls with Skype, just like people can call me. The same as a regular phone when I'm at home.

I don't know... the idea doesn't seem so awful. It's fairly cheap to try it out and if I decide later I don't like it, no big loss.

[/ QUOTE ]

Don't you want to have a cell phone for when your out, so people can call you? You can't use a payphone for that.

Maybe you should think about going retro and getting a beeper. That would be awesome.

[kenberman]

[ QUOTE ]
I almost think no one read the post.

I get an incoming number from Skype so people can call me just like a regular phone. I live and work in my house so answering a call here shouldn't really be that hard unless I'm going out.

If I really need to call someone when I'm out (the only point of a cell phone), I can do that with a quarter or a phone card. It's not that big a deal (I don't think).

I can also make outgoing calls with Skype, just like people can call me. The same as a regular phone when I'm at home.

I don't know... the idea doesn't seem so awful. It's fairly cheap to try it out and if I decide later I don't like it, no big loss.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't see how getting Skype correlates to getting rid of your cel phone. 2 totally different things.

also, you're missing 1/2 the point of your cel phone: so people can get in touch with you.

if you feel like being cheap, I would just replace your landline with Vonage , or skype, or whatever voip service. but neither of these replaces a cel phone.

also, the number of pay phones is decreasing. my grad school had them uninstalled, b/c nobody used them anymore.

also, once you get rid of your cel phone number, you probably won't be able to get it back, which would be a huge pain, assuming all your friends/family/other peopl have it.

[captZEEbo1]

do you already have a cell phone? Factor in deactivation fees if necessary =P

[BradleyT]

We use vonage VoIP for a new spinoff company we started.

[BoogerFace]

[ QUOTE ]
I almost think no one read the post.

I get an incoming number from Skype so people can call me just like a regular phone. I live and work in my house so answering a call here shouldn't really be that hard unless I'm going out.

If I really need to call someone when I'm out (the only point of a cell phone), I can do that with a quarter or a phone card. It's not that big a deal (I don't think).

I can also make outgoing calls with Skype, just like people can call me. The same as a regular phone when I'm at home.

I don't know... the idea doesn't seem so awful. It's fairly cheap to try it out and if I decide later I don't like it, no big loss.

[/ QUOTE ]

Try SkypeOut first (only costs 10 euro to try it) and make some calls. I've used SkypeOut on a road trip after I lost my cell phone. You'll need a headset (USB or Bluetooth.) Speakers and Microphone won't cut it, because of echo.

I think SkypeOut, Vonage, or Cable phone would be fine. The call quality for any VoIP service is less - about the same quality of cell phones. I did the cable phone route about a year before I cut the cord. (I'm 100% cellular now.)

I hope you realize that Skype means that if the computer is off, you have no phone. And that you are tethered to the computer whenever you want to use the 'phone'.

Vonage is a little nicer since it just plugs into a phone jack and you use your regular phones (at least I think so.) Setup I assume will be a PITA, no matter what route you go.

The only advantage to a cell phone is that you call call a tow truck in the event of emergency.

Go for it and post a trip report.

[Evan]

if you decide that as a 21 year old (or 22, 23, whatever) you'd prefer not to have a cell phone you've probably got bigger problems than overpaying for phone service, like you don't have any friends.