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Crowdgaming
October 20, 2007
Please read this post only if being humbled by technology is not something which will upset you. I must admit when I first heard about croudgaming I was a bit mortified. What has mankind become I wondered?
You see the history of pointing devices has been an interesting one. First there were the arrow keys, then the mouse. Nintendo’s Wii has interesting pointing devices/joysticks allowing a virtual reality of sorts. But the one-to-one human interaction with a device attached to a human appendage has been eclipsed allowing the pointing device to transcend the human appendage and lodge itself firmly in the group consciousness.
You see, motion sensing technology in a place like a movie theatre currently allows the audience to work together to solve a problem – admittedly a simple one. As can be seen below, this sort of technology makes the individual insignificant. Yes my friends, each of us is destined to be the equivalent of the worker ant in an anthill.
But as sad as all this is, it may not be so bad. You see in Manhattan it is tough to get a stranger to speak with you, let alone work together to solve a problem. This sort of technology could actually be good for human interaction.
So often, video games, online dating services and web browsing in general have made us communicate in person less than ever. I grew up in a neighborhood playing sports and catching fish, frogs, salamanders and virtually any other creature that was momentarily slow enough for me to lunge at and secure with my adolescent hands. I had tons of friends to hang out with each day. I interacted with others all day in fact.
I am sure if I were a kid today I would lock myself up in my room constantly in order to play whatever the latest video game happens to be.
So croudgaming may make me feel insignificant but if in the end, human beings start to warm up to one another and this technology starts to bring us together once again, I am all for it.
Take a look at how crowdgaming works:
Take a look at how crowdgaming works:
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Ooma Dialog
October 20, 2007
I wrote a blog entry titled Ooma Hysteria a few months back. A point I made in the entry is that ooma calls can potentially be tapped by users. Others commenting in the blog agreed. The company’s Chief Technologist Jeff Peck recently commented on their technology and didn’t share how they can keep calls from being tapped. He did however reinforce the fact that the calls are secure. Here is our dialog.---
RE: Ooma Hysteria
For many years, people said "you cannot stand an egg on its end" and they had the empirical evidence to support that argument. Then Columbus (allegedly) comes along and does it... These days we know many ways to get an egg to stand on its end, from high viscosity atmospheres, to zero-g orbitals, to vibrating tables.
When people say "it can't be done" that may simply mean *they* don't know how to do it.
Jeff Peck
Chief Technologist
ooma, Inc.
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My Response:
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Thank you all for the great comments. To Jeff Peck, I haven't tried your service and indeed you are right -- I haven't thought of a way to connect calls to the PSTN without allowing phone taps from the customer’s house.
To be honest, in addition to making an egg stand on its end, I have trouble making a decent omelette. ;)
But seriously, I understand the reason not to share how you keep your calls from being tapped. I certainly would want to keep this information confidential as well.
But the reality is that in my history in telecom I have never seen a concept so controversial. Even if you are able to pull off what you say -- it is obvious based on numerous blog entries and comments on these blog entries that almost no one in the communications industry believes you.
Some of these people -- unfortunately for your company, are the very same ones who get quoted in major publications regarding your technology.
So if you are looking to have this service go mainstream at some point, you need to tackle this problem.I see two ways to do this:
The first is to get a number of high profile telecom people to sign NDAs and share the information with them. They can comment on what you do without giving away the crown jewels. At least they can verify you are correct.
The second is to go public with some of what you do and rely on your patents to protect you. I did a quick patent search and don’t see any applications from your company. With the news that Vonage was sued by yet another service provider this past week it likely makes sense to start applying for patents rather quickly to ensure your success does not get sued into oblivion.
So Jeff, I wish you luck. Any company who can come up with a brand new way to provide VoIP service in a space rife with top engineers and massive amounts of financial resources deserves to be congratulated. I am looking forward to seeing how your company addresses this situation and continues to grow.
Here is that blog post again if anyone wants to join this conversation.
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AT&T Sues Vonage
October 20, 2007
Vonage can’t catch a break. There seem to be companies standing in line to take numbers to sue them. It must be a very difficult time at the New Jersey based Internet telephony leader. AT&T is the latest company to throw their hat in the “I will sue the competition out of business” ring. Verizon, Sprint Klausner Technologies and now AT&T are companies ensuring Vonage’s definition of IP will no longer be Internet Protocol but Intellectual Property.
Here is more on the AT&T/Vonage patent infringement suit.
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