I hear often that many of today’s VoIP providers are parasitic and I take offense at the term as I believe a parasite is an organism that feeds off a host and offers no benefit. Here is what the good people at Merriam-Webster have to say about the definition of a parasite:
Pronunciation: 'par-&-"sIt
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle French, from Latin parasitus, from Greek parasitos, from para- + sitos grain, food
Something that resembles a biological parasite in dependence on something else for existence or support without making a useful or adequate return
Is this accurate? I know many people that have gotten broadband so they could use VoIP.
For those of you who are biology majors, don’t you agree that symbiotic is a better term for VoIP providers?
Here is what Webster says about the term symbiosis:
Pronunciation: "sim-bE-'O-s&s, -"bI-
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural sym·bi·o·ses
Etymology: New Latin, from German Symbiose, from Greek symbiOsis state of living together, from symbioun to live together, from symbios living together, from syn- + bios life -- more at QUICK
1 : the living together in more or less intimate association or close union of two dissimilar organisms
2 : the intimate living together of two dissimilar organisms in a mutually beneficial relationship; especially : MUTUALISM
3 : a cooperative relationship (as between two persons or groups) <the symbiosis... between the resident population and the immigrants -- John Geipel>
Notice how in this term there is a relationship where both parties benefit. Symbiosis also goes over better at cocktail parties.
Example:
I’ll have a light beer, thanks for asking. So what do you do anyway?
I work for a VoIP provider.
Oh, really? What is that?
Well you what broadband is don’t you?
Sure.
You know what a deer tick is don’t you?
Sure.
Well we are the deer ticks of broadband.
Cheers.
It is important to look at VoIP in the correct light. We are as beneficial to broadband providers as they are to us. Some people just want to use Vonage or Packet8 or whatever. They don’t want Cablevision’s Optimum Voice. They need the broadband access and a VoIP provider to achieve an adequate solution. In
VoIP not Parasitic
The opinions and views expressed in comments, blogs, etc. are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of TMC, TMCnet, or its editors. TMCnet reserves the right to edit, delete, or otherwise make changes to the content that appears on these pages at its own discretion and as it deems necessary.
| 
0 Comments
| 1 TrackBack
Categories:
Technorati
Del.icio.us
Slashdot
Digg
twitterListed below are links to sites that reference VoIP not Parasitic:
VoIP not Parasitic TrackBack URL : http://blog.tmcnet.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/796
The whole notion that VoIP service should be called parasitic is lost on me. In many cases, VoIP is the reason people purchase broadband and as such I would consider it symbiotic. Why don't we call Google a parasitic search?... Read More
Leave a comment