Carlos E. R. wrote:
Some early phones were purely acoustic for example.
wire-and-tin-cans ?
Air voice pipes in ships...
Yep, good example too.
Other phones were "party-line" systems that only worked with other "party-line" phones. Electricity was like that too, and there were proprietary systems that directly competed with each other on DC and AC transmission. Televisions went through a similar period (in the infancy) with mechanical vs electronic televisions. Even now, you have competing tech that requires matching devices (NTSC, PAL SECAM).
Ah no - not matching devices, only matching technology. The significant difference (when compared to the Skype situation) being that anyone is free to develop devices using either technology.
Not exactly free. Some technologies you have to pay for to even get the specs.
I guess you're referring to ISO standards, PCI ditto and such. I see no real problem with having to pay for that. I can still use them without being dragged into court.
Talking of phones, Europe is 64 KBit/s channel, the USA is 56. The USA uses µ-law digitalization (companding algorithm), Europe A-law. International phone calls are not that easy to implement.
For the end-user, it's not an issue and I don't need to use the same phone (or technology) as my old mum when I call her. (except if I wanted to use Skype).
For the Linux desktop, it's a mix of Skype, Viber, Ekiga, and lately I've started tinkering with Telepathy. I'd prefer to roll it all into one client that allows me to connect to SIP, Skype and Viber... but... so far no luck.
Yeah, if only SIP was as popular as Skype.
Because it is not "click and shoot" install. Years ago you had to configure routers, it was not simple.
I agree, but I still wish it was. (I don't remember having to do anything special to a router though). -- Per Jessen, Zürich (21.1°C) http://www.hostsuisse.com/ - dedicated server rental in Switzerland. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org