TKJunkMail
Enjoy the sun
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join:2002-03-03
Avalon, NJ
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| reply to Mactron
Re: Not bad at all
said by Mactron  :Sure hope they don't go the way of Sunrocket... Interesting observation. Here is a comment that has the same worry:
»blog.isp-planet.com/blog/2008/06···hon.html
Update:
I received the following reply on the ISP-Wireless list:
magicjack is a simply an extreme example of a company selling service below cost to drive subscriber base, and therefor their stock value. We operate over 200 VoIP brands. I have a solid understanding of the real costs to provide PSTN termination and origination in the US. Unless Magicjack really is...magic, they are losing money on every customer. Remember Sunrocket? Woo hoo! Unlimited calling for $99 a year!. Fastest growing phone company in the US! Going to kill vonage and packet8 and everyone else and drive the cost down to zero. Well, now they are gone, because once the bean counters and the idiot investors figure out that you are NEVER going to make any money, they pull the plug. Only hope MJ has is that ebay will purchase them for $5 Billion or so.
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insomniac84
join:2002-01-03
Schererville, IN | If they keep growing the way they are, someone will absolutely buy them out. Google, Microsoft, ATT, or any other big company interested in VoIP or phone service. |
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dbmaven
There's no shortage
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join:1999-10-26
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| reply to TKJunkMail
The difference between MJ and "those other services like SunRocket" is that they have their own "phone company" - YMAX Communications. Thus, they collect interconnect fees for inbound call termination/switching - which none (or few) of the other VoIP companies do.
As for "noise on the line" when anything is being done on the computer - that's a PC issue and not something commonly complained about (although there are plenty of other complaints). I've used MJ on an older Athlon XP1800 based computer with 256MB of RAM, with BOINC Rosetta@Home running in the background, and have never had any noise on the line during calls.
I'd never use it as a full home phone line replacement - but it makes an outstanding 2nd line - for kids who spend hours on end on the phone, people who travel, or people who make lots of long distance calls. For $50/year (first year, $20/year afterwards at current pricing) - you get unlimited US/Canada long distance - lots of people can run that up in 2 weeks using a tradition POTS service, and even the other "name" VoIP services will cost 6-7 times that for a year in most cases.
It ain't perfect - but if you use it as part of a telephony portfolio approach, it's hard to beat.
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If a pig loses its voice, is it disgruntled?
Living in "an optimized state of temporary chaos" |
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mod_wastrel
join:2008-03-28 | reply to TKJunkMail
Isn't MJ subsidized to some extent by ads? (Which might make it fit right in with a Google purchase. "MagicCentral" anyone?  ) |
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amigo_boy
join:2005-07-22
Tempe, AZ
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| reply to TKJunkMail
said by TKJunkMail :magicjack is a simply an extreme example of a company selling service below cost to drive subscriber base, and therefor their stock value. MJ's intended revenue will be advertising. That could be a big success. Or, it could be that the people buying 8000 units a day don't realize the privacy issues involved in that. When advertising begins, MJ may sell fewer units.
Also, MJ's advertising scheme means there's no way to use an ATA for always-on phone service (avoiding the expense of running a computer 24/7). There are reports MJ will provide an ATA device. But, I don't know how they'll do it unless they charge more for that service (to compensate for the loss of advertising revenue).
Mark |
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ReVeLaTeD
Premium
join:2001-11-10
San Diego, CA | reply to mod_wastrel
I would love to see some bizzare amalgamation of GrandCentral and MagicJack. |
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