Game over. Game over man! You thought we would know it was “the future” when people were issued jetpacks didn’t you? Nope. The future snuck up on us, and it snuck up on the phone companies too. It is over for regular phone companies. See, first of all EVERY phone service is about to be crushed by VoIP, because VoIP means the cheapest long distance calls AND the cheapest international calls available (VoIP means Voice Over Internet Protocol and that means your conversation is being “transmitted” through the internet instead of a telephone line. For example, like video chat). But even VoIP companies like Vonage, Sunrocket, Packet8 and Lingo (a few popular internet based phone services) are about to be totally defeated by Magicjack. And let me point out I WAS a Vonage user myself for FIVE YEARS. But they actually RAISED their prices this past Jan 2009. And in an older article I wrote about how I believed people would start using MagicJack with a services like GrandCentral or free software like PhoneTray (tools that allow you easily block callers) to create the ultimate cheap phone system. I wont go into extensive details about GrandCentral right now because it’s pretty much unavailable. But Magicjack is available, and wait ‘till I tell you how much (or rather how little) it cost.

OK, so what does it DO exactly? Well it’s a VoIP, or internet based telephone service, that uses a high speed internet connection like DSL or cable. The crucial difference is that you connect this dongle right up to the computer’s USB port and then plug your traditional phone line right into that. That’s it. You buy the thing for about 40 dollars, and it includes your first year’s phone service. Your second year you pay 20 dollars. Did you catch that? You get the hardware and service for 40 bucks and then it’s 20 a year. For FULL PHONE SERVICE, including long distance. Who can beat that? Tell me, I wanna know. And right Now they’re even offering a multi year deal. Here’s a screen shot of the deal from my service at my house.

Is it perfect? Nearly. I read about a few bugs over at a forum; for example caller ID not showing the name, so you have to type the caller’s name the first time they call you-then it remembers them. And these forum guys have been testing the service since July of last year, so they’ve discovered all kinds of tricks and modifications. Seriously, look into MagicJack! What would your life be like if your phone bill for the YEAR was 20 dollars? And with the 5 year deal it’s only 12 dollars a year. At this point I have 2 of them myself! Because one of my offices was going to be charged this INSANE price because it was a commercial location and the phone company wanted a LOT for the phone line. So I just got “DSL only” phone service and connected the MagicJack.

Folks the price right now is CRAZY. Because all you need to get MagicJack working a high speed internet connection. One dollar a month for your phone.

So that’s pretty much it. I mean, I could tell how I first heard about it. Well, I heard about Magicjack from my “Navy Daddy.” See I’ve got a Navy Daddy and “Bank Daddy.” Both of these guys are men at least 20 years older than me, whom I met when I was in each of those environments. They took an interest in my career and made lots of efforts for me to go further-and then ultimately we’ve had great relations since our time in those environments. The great piece of irony is that despite the fact that I’m YOUNGER than those 2 guys they’ve been crucial to my technological growth. Bank Daddy convinced me years ago to “get on the internet.” At the time I had a laptop, and I had even used the internet at a job and at Columbia University in the early 90’s and was NOT impressed. But around ’94 he convinced me to give the internet another try-and the rest is history. And Navy Daddy’s turned me onto all manor of tech, included Magicjack.

Related posts:

1. So Far I’m Pretty Satisfied with Vonage
2. How to Get the Most Out of ATT DSL Internet Service
3. Secret Deals You Can Use to Get the Cheapest ATT DSL
4. I Had ATT DSL Dry Loop Installed Today. DSL with No Phone Line
5. How to Talk Tech Talk with ATT DSL to Get Good Service