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D-Link DVC-1000 Videophone Review
Milton Linkle writes "One of the first H.323 compliant videophones, that doesn't require a PC, is slowly but surely making it's rounds. This review provides a very good overview of the product, and even includes a few video caps of the device in action. If this product, or others like it eventually take off, we may get to a point where we no longer have a need for traditional telephones."
This is part of a wave of all consumer devices to make it more palatable for the average consumer at the expense of sealing it away from people like us.
Remember, once upon a time you could adjust the timing of the distributer of your car.
Implementing DRM is easy with sealed boxes like this.
It's Christmas everyday with BitTorrent.
The technology for videophones has been around since the 40ies. Try and search the web if you don't believe it. The point is, users don't want it. No matter how many times a year a technology start-up pops up and tells us that yes, they can do it, users don't want it. Shouldn't be that hard to understand.
Let's not confuse the technology and the poor implementation of the technology.
People talk loudly on their cell phones because the microphones are crap. They have to yell into the phones to overcome the background noise to get over the noise filter.
The technology exists to put a microphone in a cell phone that would let you speak at a barely perceptible level, but that would add, say $20, to the cost of the phone. Most people don't buy cell phones, they get them as loss-leaders from their service provider, so you can imagine how fast that's going to catch on.
Yes, corporate-greed/cheap-dumb-people are ruining your life once again.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
I used to bitch and moan everytime I heard a cell phone go off or saw someone talking on one.
/.'ers, or CS people in general, feel good about being Different. I became a CS major partly because it made me feel smarter than everyone else (I know, wrong reason). When we see the popular kids/suits/watever walkin around on their nice phones, we get a high out of being Different for not doing the same. I say, get over it. I've made a big effort this last year to accept being normal, you can too!
In december, I eventually broke down and bought AT&T's Free2Go prepaid service. I keep the phone on me as an address book, and for emergencies, and I receive free SMS, so I'm always easy to contact.
Now when I hear or see a cell phone, for some reason that hateful loathing is mostly gone.
Here's why I thin this is...
Most of us
no comment
I'm unsure about this. I hesitate to say "this is a bad product", but I'd want something that works more like a conventional phone. Having to run to the TV everytime a call comes in, throwing everyone off the couch, and positioning yourself for the camera seems a little bit of a production for a simple phone call. It's also totally lacking in privacy.
Instead, I'd like to see a shorter-range, desktop version with small LCD. The camera would be aimable, so you could pre-orient it to your height, and the LCD would be small so that you could view it privately. Obviously, the camera would have to have more of a webcam range than 5-10 feet. Microphone would be built into the case, of course, along with headphone jack.
-Erwos
Plausible conjecture should not be misrepresented as proof positive.
ISPs say this violates their TOS due to the famous "excessive bandwidth" clauses? I vote the Comcast does it first.
I'm one of the authors of SIP (RFC 2543), which is the only viable alternative to H.323, and it has the same fundamental problem. One of SIP's many benefits over H.323 is that the encoding is ASCII, as opposed to H.323's ASN.1 which is a pain in the ass. This makes the firewall's job somewhat easier, but still not trivial. There just isn't an easy solution when it comes to signaling protocols.
I refuse. I'd like to point out, particularly where I do my ~38 mile, each way, trek each day the traffic is such that a 911 call is usually from a stationary vehicle, as accidents tend to stop traffic. There's actually three components to my daily drive:
Fairly predictable Highway 17/880 from Los Gatos to near Highway 101, cell phoners tend to congregate in the left lane, to avoid worrying about merging traffic. Usually identifiable by slow reaction to changing traffic and/or driving slower than surrounding traffic.
Highway 17 winding through the Santa Cruz mountains, from ~sea level to 1,800 feet, back to ~sea level. Slow reactions, distractions, failure to compensate for variability of grade, turn, camber, as well as the occasional scumbucket speed-racer/lane-changer cause no shortage of accidents. Both hands on the wheel and eyes forward are highly recommended. Every trip is an adventure.
City driving. I honestly don't know how people do it. Driving city streets at rush hour requires absolute undivided attention. I've seen more than a few drivers drop their phone to avoid an accident. I've also seen a few who incorrectly decided their precious phone and/or call were more important than avoiding said accident.
It's like smoking. There are those who smoke a 3 packs a day and live to be 100. There's also those who smoke less than a pack a day and develop lung cancer in their 30's. Some get away with the roll of the dice and others don't. Best not to claim mastery of the situation and jinx yourself.
I've had 3 cell phones (first was a bag-phone, yeah, early adopter) and learned early on that you can't drive a stick and use a cell phone. Tricky enough with an automatic. I leave calls to when I'm stationary. I've had various cars in the body shop over the years and, though there's a hit-and-run ding on the front right of the current set of wheels, the inconvenience of doing without while it's in the shop is enough to encourage caution, if not just to keep insurance low.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar