VoIP Toolkit

Story: Nokia: Skype must change or die

Posted by: David Wright (Tuesday 14 June 2005, 9:23 AM)

I use Skype sometimes, and for my friends in foreign climbs or back in Blighty, it means I can talk as long as I want without feeling constrained.

And as to the quality, I'd be happy to pay for that quality of call on a mobile, the fact that most of the time when somebody calls me on the mobile I have to find a land line to call them back so they can hear me sort of negates the point of having a one.

I am on a business trip at the moment and have transferred my Skype details from the PC to my laptop and I continue to have crystal clear conversations wherever I am set up.

The office of my friend is in the middle of a residential area and the mobile has enough signal to ring, I then either have to call back on the land line, or I have to walk 100m up the hill to get a signal on the mobile! At home, the mobile signal is even worse, it usually gets enough signal during the day to get 1 SMS from my provider to tell me I have missed half a dozen calls!

I've given up giving out my Mobile number, everybody gets my home/office number (ISDN) which gets forwarded to my mobile when I'm out-and-about or to the destination land-line.

And don't even get me started on finding a suitable mobile 'phone! I want a smart looking, comfortable phone which isn't too bulky or too small, which has a good quality connection when talking. What I don't want is a tiny phone which I can't clamp between my cheek and shoulder and I don't want a digital camera with some 'phone facilities, I have decent digital cameras and film cameras, thank you.

For me, the zenith of Nokia's 'phone development was the 6210/6310 series, a good, basic phone which was, mostly, reliable. If they offered a similar sized 'phone today with a slightly more modern look, I would buy one tomorrow.

The size was right, and the keypad worked properly, I used to send a lot of SMS's at the time, today I have a small 6610, it is a pain to use, it is too small and the keys don't always work first press, I just feel lucky I don't have to send SMS's anymore... I am seriously considering "upgrading" it to a 6310i!