http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2003/11/14/173126/568. VoIP (Rounds 1 and 2)
Using the Internet for phone calls is becoming a hot topic again, which makes it easy to forget that this is actually the third time this particular technology has made an appearance.
I wasn't sure if I should call VoIP a "fad" or not, since there is some technology here which actually is useful, and many major phone companies are actually using the underlying technology for their internal networks. On the other hand, both of the previous appearances in consumer form were clearly premature, so those at least are fads.
The first time, it was strictly for the determined. Imagine using your PC as a really bad CB radio, and you get the basic idea. Most conversations were along the lines of "Can you hear me? Isn't this cool! We're using the Internet for a phone call!" The listener typically heard, "-an y-----ear--e? ------ool! We're u--ng the -nter------all!"
My own first exposure to VoIP technology was in graduate school in 1994 or 1995. Two of the postdocs in my research group were testing VoIP as a way to save money on our conference calls with a team we collaborated with overseas. They had set up two SGI workstations in adjacent offices, and attempted to set up a VoIP call. They closed the two office doors, and this is what I heard from my cubicle:
Postdoc #1: "Hello? Hello? Hello? Can you hear me? Can you hear me? Hello? CAN YOU HEAR ME?"
[office door opens, Postdoc #2 walks out into Postdoc #1's office]
Postdoc #2: "I think the whole floor can hear you."