I agree with all your observations, Jon. But remember how horrible music sounded just a few years ago? This real-time voice chat is brand new technology, that will undergo numerous upgrades. . . especially now that they have to please Yahoo on a regular basis. . . and with broadband spreading, the possibilities are awesome.
I understand the revenue stream from the Hearme.com site and Yahoo, etc. . . but that is not where I see the money. Again, I see it in the corporate websites. For instance, Dell has service personnel spread all over the world. . . their phone bills must be ridiculous. . . but with a 2-way voice conference direct from the Dell website, the headquarters can give specific instructions to the service personnel in Sri Lanka IN THE FIELD!! And without the long-distance rates . . .
Now once a company like a Dell or Compaq or Intel decide to incorporate HEAR technology on their website, hundreds, thousands or ?? of customers could beat a path to the Hearme.com door.
The main thing is that they have the patents and are the only one in the biz. . . .my greatest fear is that MSFT will buy them up before they have a chance to return to their 52-week high of 51 dollars. . . but if they get a CEO appearance with a demonstration of their live audio chat rooms on CNBC, then look out. . .we could double or triple in a matter of days.
And remember that wearable computers are voice driven. . . no keyboard. . .
And here is the secret that almost nobody has thought of in a few dozen years. SHHHHHhhhh. . . .
> when set-top boxes plug nearly every American family into the internet, the percentage of internet users that can type will be dramatically reduced. Not everyone can type. . .and many that do, are self-conscious of their speed, spelling, grammar, etc. And to that group, speaking in a chat room is very attractive. So this thing could become a fad like the CB radio of the 70's.
Now the downside is this. . . bandwidth is not cheap. . .and real-time audio sucks up bandwidth in a major way. . . so these chat rooms will not be readily available for free, in my opinion. It wouldn't surprise me if Yahoo decides to charge a fee for live audio chat room use. The banner ads won't pay for the bandwidth used, since there are no page turns . . .and users stay online for hours at a time.
Another thing is that these rooms are VERY addictive. . . . I'll bet there are a few that I sent there today that are still there. LOL!
Last point: If Yahoo signs HEAR today. . .who is next? AOL? ATHM? LCOS? GNET? CNET? MSPG? ELNK? TURF? etc, etc, etc,
The thing that excites me most is that the developments in communication and information in the 1990's can only be compared to the industrial revolution of 100 years ago.
Rande Is |
