Bell with what would later result in the invention of the telephone
I know the title of this post might sound too strong. But I would like to ask you a question: who's nowadays making phone calls from fixed lines? Practically no one. This was due to the popularity of mobile phones but also the fact that fixed lines were not adopted by many.
In this post I am not talking about fixed line calls but mobile phone ones. It has never been more easy to pull your device out of your pocket and make a phone call to literally anywhere in the world. But now this service we use on our daily routine is being threatened by new ways of communicating.
Social networks like Facebook, Twitter, the new Google+ (still unknown here in Kigali) are all new and relatively cheap ways of communication. People tend to send messages using these platforms to avoid relatively expensive phone calls. If there is no real emergency, you can send a message on Facebook or tweet a friend or family. Of course they have to be online regularly to read your messages, but it's becoming easier to be online even on the go since the introduction of mobile Internet in 2008.
Social networks can sometimes become more efficient allowing people to get in touch without knowing each others cell numbers....
For the always-online users, this is an alternative way of keeping in touch. Just as much as people used to avoid expensive long distance calls by Skypeing. As ISPs are lowering their prices, we might see people getting online more often and starting to use internet as a way of keeping in touch.
Messaging services on high-end devices like BBM, iMessage, WhatsApp... are also becoming more popular. Not forgeting SMSs.
No wonder why operators are trying to get their subscribers get online at least on their own network.
This might resolve the problem of spectrum carriers face on long term. Maybe.
I know I might have sounded like I was killing phone calls, but we all know there is no such thing as a voice communication where you kinda get the real feeling of your friend. Like I said, new ways of communication are coming and VoIP services are also voice communication.... Your thoughts?
Yeah,you are right, it might be, a beginning of the end of usual circuit switched phone calls.
ReplyDeleteEconomics will always guide technology use, say why would I;
-send to you an SMS(10Rfr) when I can "WhatsApps"you at a cost of approx 0.005Rfrs!
To supplement your "super analysis",I think all we luck is "fast internet" and thereafter phone calls will drop considerably remaining mainly for emergency.
Keep the nice work up!
First of all, allow me to let U know that this is the most interesting post for me, so far.
ReplyDeleteIt has Ur telecommunication philosophy in it. It's a kind of Ubuhanuzi. U're putting in situation of being curious of Ur next post. Since now, am gonna starting doing kind of marketing for this post. Will the next post be "Google +" Big up kabisa.