By: Ben Robinson, IntoMobile Thursday, June 26th, 2008 at 6:09 AM
… or at least that’s what they were saying to me when they sent me an email on Tuesday.
Reading on, the story was about the Skype Nomad, a girl called Rebecca from Oz, who has been travelling around (the world), and finding out how easy it is to use Skype. So really the mobility part is her, rather than any specifically mobile solution (although to be fair she had a 3 Skypephone with her…).
Anyways if you’d like to check out Rebecca’s blog you can go here.
Ben is a 10+ year veteran of the Mobile industry – starting his career
when SMS was a still a relatively new concept for most people (!), he has
now consulted on everything from bleeding-edge Mobile content, to the
next-gen accessories you might view it on. As a result he has a broad and deep knowledge in numerous areas of Mobile – from network operators to device vendors, to infrastructure and middleware vendors (not to mention content delivery) – and has worked for companies in all of these areas!
He is based in the UK, a hotbed of activity for mobile, and recently
became a father for the second time – as oppose to in his younger years
when he was happy spend time tweaking all manner of mobile devices to
'nth' degree, he now looks for services and hardware that provide the most efficient, compact, and reliable improvements to his already manic life! It’s his opinion that Mobile solutions should be there to help to make
your life better – if a particular solution (be it service or device)
isn’t doing this, he believes you need to ask the very important question
of why you continue to use it...
His focus at IntoMobile is mainly on Mobile content, services, and
infrastructure, particularly as regards the UK market – and with the
occasional look at devices. Additionally, using his extensive experience
in the industry, he will provide commentary on the industry at large, with
regular (and hopefully thought-provoking) articles.
J.A. Watson
Exactly what did the “Skype Nomad” do that contributed to anyone’s understanding of mobile use of Skype? Did she report on availability and quality of Skype in various locations? Did she report or roaming data costs? Did she compare functionality and usability of various Skype devices in different situations?
Sadly, the answer to all of the above is “NO”. Basically all she did was travel around the world at Skype’s expense, and keep a travel log. She could have accomplished just as much by carrying a “SKYPE” sign as she did by taking mobile gear.
William
I use Skype on the go too.
Ben Robinson
@ J.A. – I think you’ve hit the nail on the head there, that’s essentially what I was alluding to.
I’ve actually mailed the Nomad and asked for an interview to better understand what exactly it was that she did – and so if there is a response I’ll post the interview here so we can all be enlightened