You know the line about men and women thinking about sex n times per day? My digital life is more on my mind than sex.
I left my phone in the car. My folks and I arrived in Fairhaven, a neighborhood of Bellingham, Washington, to shop for children’s toys and browse the Village Books store. iPhone in coat, coat locked in car, I went iPhoneless for two hours.
A half-block from the car I had my first phantom limb experiences. I saw an abandoned London red phone booth and reached for my phone to take picture. I settled for a camera but I wouldn’t be able to twitpic that photo or share it with my telephony buddies.
Over the next 120 minutes I wanted to:
- price compare books via Red Laser,
- endorse an oil and vinegar tasting boutique on Yelp!,
- check on expansion packs for Cataan (found something complex to level the playing field),
- photograph some beautiful chutney at lunch,
- look up Washington State’s counselor licensing (saw an office building full of therapists),
- log how far off-diet my meal sent me,
- check in from Village Books,
- look up that indie-book-seller coalition they belong to,
- read about their anti-Kindle campaign,
- download the Fire & Ice four-pack to my Kindle app,
- snapshot the cover of the last Gaiman book for friends in a science fiction Skype chat,
- ask Quora a question about the DIY book industry,
- remind myself to pack warmer next time,
- read more about Washington State investigations into Whatcom County budget magic,
- bookmark a book on business modeling for a friend,
- check the hourly weather for that evening, and
- peek at my sister’s family Amazon holiday wishlists.
That’s at least 18 reflexive reaches for my iPhone. 9 an hour, every 6 or 7 minutes. According to one recent study, this is more often than we think about sex. And this was just a casual family holiday stroll through a suburban shopping district.
Many of us are getting used to augmenting thought; in our ongoing internal dialog, conversations with others, shopping and working. Life is better with apps and live data. Heck, we think more complete thoughts, plan our future better, and interact with others in more informed ways with our digital life. Each time we reach, we’re getting mind candy, positive reinforcement. Our operant conditioning is strong.
So disconnecting causes withdrawal symptoms. How long offline does it take you to stop reaching for your laptop, tablet or mobile? For the conditioning to break down? Could observing a digital sabbath give us more freedom and control over our reflexes, more power to alter and adjust our behavior? Or should we not bother? Should we accept this new twitch response as an improvement?
This mind enhancement comes with strings and risks.
Does this new conditioning tie us to one company more than others, like mobile operating system publishers?
How can our new behavior shift power among corporations, governments, and individuals?
When you reach for your brain-augmentation-device, are you missing things because of that reach, causing new problems? Can the impulse to reach cause distracted driving, even without the gadget at hand?
At what point does personal dependence become a public necessity, like water, air, safety, and roads?
Can this behavior be exploited like sex? Sexy advertising bypasses our executive cognition and taps something more primal. Are printed www links and QR codes a first stab at triggering our digital reflex?
So here’s the test: Without hyperlinks in this post, how many times did you think to click on something? More times than you thought of sex? Aha!
“If you are not paying for it,
you’re not the customer;
you’re the product
being sold.”
posted on Metafilter’s
“User-driven discontent” thread
by blue_beetle
at 1:41 PM on August 26, 2010
Facebook’s customers are its advertisers, making Facebook’s users the product sold to advertisers. This creates a tension between the needs of advertisers and the needs of users. Facebook’s success has been walking that line closely and carefully, minimizing the perception of intrusion while aggressively pimping their users to merchants.
Skype’s users paid for SkypeOut and SkypeIn from the start, accounting for 90% of revenue, so Skype’s bottom-line interests were aligned with its users.
Skype’s management slowly eroded that alignment.
Employers. Skype Manager and the Skype for Business desktop client for Windows give your company control over Skype credits, privacy (your manager can see all the SkypeOut calls you make), specific features (your manager can turn off IM or file transfers, for example) and many user preferences (see the Admin guide to Skype).
Advertisers. Skype produces ad revenue through business directory listings, toolbar and web site Click-and-Call ad services, some in-app display ads in the “home” tab, and toolbars. The newest version of Skype for Windows, the 5.3 Beta, now shifts focus away from where you left Skype, pulling you out of context, showing you the latest big advert. You cannot return to your conversations without dismissing the ad, an annoying usability hit.
Distribution Partners. Skype works closely with phone companies and ISPs to promote Skype to their customers. These deals come with strings.
- The Skype mobile app for Verizon came with an exclusivity, hurting US Skype users who weren’t on Verizon’s network.
- Those same versions came CALEA wiretap-ready, making all Skype calls less secure (you can’t know if other Skype users are using a surveillance friendly version).
- Skype’s TOM-Skype partnership in China similarly walked back Skype’s original spyware-free premise in exchange for opening up their largest market; TOM-Skype is free to package Skype software with spyware and malware as ordered/suggested by Chinese government agencies and common business practice.
- Skype lowered call quality for its first Verizon Android apps at Verizon’s insistence.
- Skype’s 3 Skypephone partnership in the UK restricted SkypeOut to international calls, even when domestic SkypeOut rates were cheaper than 3’s.
Developers. Half of eBay’s revenue comes from transactions driven through APIs. Many of Skype’s managers from that era learned that lesson. eBay listens closely to their developer channel, sometimes wrestling over fees, access to customer data, and terms. As Skype’s platform products (embedded, cloud, mobile) reach programmers, Skype will be tempted to meter access, charging for use of its APIs. We haven’t seen Skype choose between developer and user interests. Yet.
Microsoft. This is prospective: Ballmer and Bates committed to building Skype into a range of Microsoft products. Will the Xbox division be Skype’s customer? Or the Xbox players? Live Messenger’s advertisers or Messenger’s users? Bing’s advertisers or Bing’s users?
Skype may never again report its revenue by source, a strong alignment signal. So watch Skype’s behavior. Does Skype serve you over all other others? Or does Skype deserve the high customer scrutiny and alternatives Facebook inspires?
photos cc-by: evan moss, elizabeth stark.
Download Skype for Mac 5.2.0.1523.
CORRECTION: You can now be in group video calls and pay for a Skype Premium subscription, just like the Windows users. You can now screenshare in group video calls, which not even Skype for Windows users can do. From Skype’s blog post and change log:
Major changes in this update compared to previous release are:
Improved Multi-tasking
Group Screen Sharing (requires Premium subscription)
Sidebar enhancement
Support for Mac’s built-in HD and Logitech’s B910 HD cameras
Minor bug fixes
Skype launched a page with a dozen tips and tricks for Mac users.
- Call control bar – with video
- Switch conversations – swipe the trackpad with three fingers
- Mark as unread – CMD + SHIFT + U.
- Toggle Mute – Press CMD + SHIFT + M.
- Push to Talk while Muted – hold CTRL + OPTION + CMD + UpArrow.
- Edit last message – CMD + SHIFT + E.
- Change input field height – Click and drag the top of the input box
- See your online contacts when Skype in minimized – CMD + 3
- Enter a new line. SHIFT + ENTER.
- Dial pad – CMD + 2.
- Close a conversation – CMD + W.
- Assign avatars and new titles in group conversations
Related articles:
Thanks for the correction, Jim.
Melanie Salvatierra posts a remembrance of Skype’s sponsorship of The Oprah Winfrey Show, airing its last episode today. Frankly, Skype might never have reached popular awareness in the United States without Oprah’s support. Will Oprah’s new cable channel producers use Skype without being paid? Even when using Skype gives Skype final cut per section 5.5 of its Broadcast Terms of Service?
NetTALK president Anastasios ‘Takis’ Kyriakides answered a few of my questions.
SJ. MagicJack operates a phone company to back their VoIP operations. Does netTALK?
Yes, our Network Operations center (datacenter) is located in Miami, Florida, with several POP locations in several states for redundancy and to guarantee uptime. We are interconnected with most major carriers and emergency services.
SJ. Skype tried a retail strategy a few years ago, with adapters, PC-free Skype desk phones, and Skype credit gift cards. Why do you think netTALK and MagicJack have had success in retail?
Skype users were early adopters of VOIP technology, when Skype introduced retail products consumers were in a transition of mobile communications, the economy was more stable and consumers were less concerned about the cost savings associated with Skype technology.
Full Story »
Irrawaddy reports Burma’s Myanmar Posts and Telecommunication (MPT) ordered a stop to competitive over-the-top services.  From the order: “The increasing use of the VoIP overseas calls via the Internet services such as Skype, G [Google] Talk, Pfingo, VZO, etc. given by PACs [Public Access Centers] and cyber cafés have caused official overseas calls through the [junta's] communication services to decline, affecting state revenue.” The real target seems to be Singapore’s StarHub Pfingo, hugely popular for talking with Burmese expats via email, IM, and voice on PCs and mobiles.
One definition of integrity is for your public face…
Skype message to users in the United States, 16 March 2011.
to match your private one…
Lobby of the Skype offices in Palo Alto, California, 16 March 2011.
Skype is offering a lovely product. So it might be rude to block ads it sells to global brands.
I’m not so sure. After all, it is my desktop computer. Mine. And my attention. Easily scattered. I routinely block ads in my other browsers. And I always thought ads in competing consumer products were distracting, tacky, time wasting, and intrusive.
 So, is it feasible? Skype hasn’t opened up its client browser to third-parties, so solutions may be not be obvious.
Is it moral? After all, this is Skype’s software and, while they make money just because I am on the network (see Metcalfe’s Law), I’m only renting the software, not owning it. Yet, is there some inherent right to use other people’s software and networks as I see fit, so long as it doesn’t harm the network or others?
And is it legal? Would I be breaking any laws or contracts by running a Skype ad-block program? Would I be suborning an intellectual property crime by offering a $200 bounty for someone to build an app that would let me block Skype on my desktop?
Or Skype could just offer a privacy preference to turn off the ads.
Much less bother.
And so polite.
Let’s look at where most of Skype’s cash flow comes from: paying customers.
Skype is selling hard with the launch of Skype group video calling and the Skype Premium service to pay for it. Skype now features Fee over Free at a rate of 3 to 1, if you look at screen real estate on this US Skype for Windows download page. The Premium package has high eye-catching art, a contrasting green “Buy Skype Premium” action button, and a bright pink, attention grabbing special offer decal (“15% discount”).
The push is on to sell up from $3 to $12 monthly SkypeOut plans, where price of minutes continues to fall, to a $9/month service without competition from phone companies.
Hmmm. Where else might Skype pick up some real cash?
From Skype’s blog post launching in-client ads, did you notice the user account in the upper-left corner? MeeboSkype? As in Meebo, the browser-based chat company? This could be a head fake; I can’t find MeeboSkype in the Skype phone book.
But what if it’s a slip? Would Meebo be a good partner or acquisition for Skype? Their products are complimentary:browser-based IM chat rooms, browser and web-site plug-ins, and mobile apps. How much more would Skype be worth with great browser-based clients?
Just a rumor, for now. tips@SkypeJournal.com if you hear anything.
Update: Meebo is already a Skype partner: If you want to buy ads for the US market, email ads@meebo-inc.com.
Skype Access is a little known feature of Skype. It lets you buy Wi-Fi access by the minute from more than five million hotspots. Access’s two selling points: pay by the minute only for what you need, and pay with Skype credits at 19 cents a minute (US$11.40/hour). Skype Access is free in Spain this week in honor of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Access partners include BT Openzone (UK), Fon, M3 Connect (Germany), Row 44 (in-flight), Skyrove (South Africa), Spectrum Interactive (UK), Tomizone (Australia, New Zealand, South Pacific ), Vex (South America). Skype ran promotions like this before in other markets.
I broke the news Wednesday that Skype has “fair use” guidelines for group video calling. I haven’t talked to Skype’s price/policy team so I can only speculate why their Skype Premium prices are structured this way.
Why would Skype cap Group Video Calls at 4 hours per call, 10 hours per calendar day (GMT), and 100 hours per month (starting when you buy)? 
Skype is balancing several conflicting goals.
The obvious one is risk avoidance. Caps minimize gaming to co-opt the Skype group video service for criminal activity or large scale business use. For example, you wouldn’t subscribe on one account and give the login to a whole customer service department.
A second goal is to cultivate the perception that your product has value. Artificial scarcity is old hat in telephony. Phone companies chose to charge by the minute instead of by the call, by the month, by the number of callees, etc. Caps make you worry about running out.
A third goal is virality. When you run low on GVC minutes, you’ll push your friends, family or colleagues – the other people in group calls – to buy their own subscriptions and shoulder some of the weight of the call costs.
A fourth goal is to test consumer behavior when exposed to different price points and product scopes. 4/10/100 is a baseline. Do people hang up at 3:59 and call again? Do people trade off who anchors a conference call? Do customers start opening up a second Skype account to get around the limits? This is useful data for the next round of pricing/product choices.
A fifth goal is to contrast general consumer and small business pricing with enterprise products. For example, Skype could offer to double the monthly caps and do away with the 4 and 10 hour limits on a $20/month enterprise plan. Or let a list of Skype users (like a team or department) share a pool of minutes, billed centrally.
A sixth goal is to make customers plan before using. These first Premium plans are the same, differing only in duration, a simple choice that asks “how often will I make group video calls in the future?” The psychology of planning assumes a course of action, which is why car sales reps invite you to imagine yourself behind the wheel. You can’t choose among these plans without an answer and putting yourself in the host’s seat.
It is still very early. Skype has some data from the public trials that would lead them to expect that few people will bump into these caps. So they will watch for those edge cases and see what they can do to accommodate them or if these customers are too expensive to serve.
See also: Skype Premium Terms of Service.
Email tips@skypejournal.com. Chat with me on Skype. Call me at +1-510-316-9773 (my mobile), follow on twitter @evanwolf (everything) and @SkypeJournal (just the posts). Visit our Skype Journal private technologist roundtable, one of the longest running public Skype chats, where we’re talking about this right now.
Group Video Calling Fair Usage Policy
Group video calls are subject to a fair usage limit of 100 hours per month with no more than 10 hours per day and a limit of 4 hours per individual video call. Once these limits have been reached, the video will switch off and the call will convert to an audio call.
© Skype – Last revised: October 2010
Details that matter.
- Calendar days start at midnight GMT (Convenient only if you’re in London).
- The hours represent the time a subscriber hosts a video call, to the nearest minute. You can be in a group video call but only one subscriber is hosting, typically the one initiating the call.
- You can add time with an upgrade but not a downgrade. So you may extend a day pass with a month subscription, but you cannot get extra time within your month subscription by buying day passes.
- You cannot have multiple subscriptions at the same time. So you cannot run through your 100 hours in two weeks then buy another 100 hours; you’ll have to wait until the next month. Similarly, you cannot buy two day passes at once; you’ll have to wait until the first one expires before buying the second.
- Your subscription or pass starts from when you buy it. No obvious way at this point to “normalize” your subscription to a billing period of your choice.
- The 10 hour per day limit is for a calendar day. So if you buy your one day pass at noon and start your group video call, you’ll run out of time at 10pm and must wait until midnight to start your next 10 hours.
Are these limits reasonable? Is this a lot of time? Sufficient?
For comparison, a forty-hour work week averages 167 hours in a month. 100 hours of GVC would be a half-time job, all meetings. I’m not sure why this limit. Conversely, men watch TV 2.8 hours daily, or about 84 hours monthly.
Seem like enough time for most people.
However these limits can hurt if video cutoffs interrupt…
- Negotiating a peace treaty
- The last stages of combat before leveling
- Prepping for your final exams
- Your wife is starting her tenth hour of labor
- Virtual honeymoons (with a third or fourth or fifth person)
- Your 2011 Oscar party (four hours, easy)
For workers who live on the phone or in meetings, it’s easy to imagine bumping into these limits.
Correction: Work month is closer to 167 than 220 (for most of us).
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