Go read Jean Mercier's reaction to Klonies. An excerpt:

I think Skype is shifting away from my needs! Would you, as a businessman, download something that showed this ... when changing your avatar? And yes, believe me, i like the “original” avatar function!

From Comvverse's Xen Mendelsohn's response:

The ways people manifest individuality in everyday life are essential elements of self identity... Klonies offer something new that Web avatars cannot do: the ability to create an alter-ego, a cool identity to represent oneself in mobile communications, which for many users has become the dominant means of communication.

Xen is right about the value of projecting identity. Jean is right about context. Maybe we need the workplace equivalents of Klonies.

• Bundles of avatars for different professions and industries. The mighty plumber, the serious banker, the school teacher. What are the symbols, the iconography for the hospitality industry, the entertainment business? Can you build them into a character's wardrobe, backdrop, adornments (just waiting for that adding machine tattoo for accountants), and accessories?

• Maybe partner with a service for creating company logos for all those SOHO/Prime businesses?

• How about beautiful art? Or science photography? Currencies of the world? A subscription to a new picture daily that matches your favorite image search?

• Or a photo transformation that takes your portrait or your family photo and puts it on a postage stamp? Or makes it look like a pencil drawing? Artistic effects.

Today's Klonies appear adolescent and juvenile, and seem well designed for mobile youth. There are no balding, fat, older, slightly squidgy-looking characters. Only "cute" identities, and most people don't self-identify as cartoonish or cute. Where are the avatars for "rugged", "mature", "experienced", "damaged", "brave", "caring", "connected", "political", "hard working", "introspective", "elegant"?

These Klonies are also very western. Take a walk through Malcolm Godwin's "Who Are You? 101 Ways of Seeing Yourself" (Penguin, 2000). The diversity of ways people think about themselves is astounding, varying so much by generation, by culture.

IMHO, it's not that we should displace the Klonies, making it safe for those of us who puke over cute. Skype needs to open the doors to a broader range of fee and free identifiers. Don't you think everyone should be able to assemble online personae that represent the identities they choose to project?

Bonus points: Persona by Contact Group. I want my colleagues and customers at work to see one avatar, mood, "full name", and contact details; an informal but professional look. I can have more fun with my friends and family, and I can tailor another personae to the public at large. This goes to Skype's overly simple models of personal and collective digital identity.

See also:

• Deleting Skype Names
• Last Minute Skype2 Gift: Privacy Shield
• Skype identity crisis?
• New Skype Ringtones Revolt Coming