PS3, could replace our phones?

The other day I was sitting in my bed and thinking about the phone bill.
I got to thinking about how we have so many forms of communication just in the house alone, and we still keep this money eating dinosaur.

I currently just purchased a brand new ps3 (after my prior one of 4 years finally went down), I own a microphone ( a good one that came with rock band and records better stuff on the computer than my 50$ one), I got the camera which doubles as a mic as well and even a head set sitting around here some where.

Now my question is with how far we've come, could we ditch the home phone? Would be able to adapt to maybe a communication system like the ps3. I mean sony has proved that on a much smaller scale they can do it...FREE OF CHARGE. And I mean my ps3 can do messaging, video to video calling. You can even leave a voice message for some body. As well, you are able to surf the web as freely as you want with a very easy to use web browser and OS.

Now I'm not suggesting let get every house hold a ps3. However, what I am suggesting is that, we have more than the ability to use a ps3 as a whole house hold communication line. I mean every one and there kids have a cell phone, why in the hell do we pay monthly for the land line?
Do we fear advancement?
Why is it that these providers charge you to make a call to japan from north america, yet to make a connection to the Japanese server is free?
In fact you can have video conversation with that person. again for free.
All at the expense of the price of your monthly internet bill

reply to post by tribaltrip


You make some good points. But if you use a cell phone you have no need of a land phone. With a cell phone you just reach to your hip. The land phone rings everyone looks at each other to see who is going to answer. Someone is going to have to put down their beer, get out of that comfortable chair and answer it........Not me!

reply to post by gem_man

The cell phone is prime example of how we have all adapted to something, even little old nanny's have black berry's these days.
And I mean the kids we have today would have no problem adapting to a system like this, considering they already don't have a system.
In my house hold.
I would say I get friend and family/ telemarketer ratio of 10%/90%
It rings, we usually just ignore, because we know its just some the same Indian who cant pronounce my name right, and call's everyday after I hang up on him daily.
Damnit, I must win a cruise once a day.
I have never received a viral message advertising something on my ps3.
Why not make the $250 one time investment.
instead of giving these demons with hidden fangs (hidden fees)
more money.
I say F'em

I used to think the same thing about XBOX 360 and then found Skype. For $4.00 a month you get unlimited minutes to any landline or cellphone + a phone number with voicemail. I have a coordless phone plugged into the PC.

I always think about things like this as well.

The internet will undoubtably take over for our land lines. With skype as the previous poster said gives you unlimited everything for a minute price. This technology is taking over and will become mainstream within the next couple of years.

The only thing holding us back is the corporations greed. They do not want to have to give us unlimited phone service for a couple of bucks a month when they can charge $30+ a month and try and ding us on long distance calls. If profit was not the biggest market motivator then it would look like we were in the stone age when we look back in 50 years.

Consumers embrace new technology and find innovative new ways to use it. Technology is not the problem is the hands that hold that technology that are the biggest issue we face.

Pred...

me and a few of my friends use to talk on our xbox360 instead of the phone sometimes! It was fun....well I guess because we were playing a game as well!

Personally, I hate cell phones. I dont like people knowing where I am at half the time, let alone giving them the ability to contact me at their will. Leave a message, I will get back to you.
Not to mention the bill. Can we say Ouch!?
I work securtiy at a bar an find iphones left and right. $300+ phones.
Only to say "Oh well, next week I will get the New one, its only $450".
So now I have to pay all that money, PLUS monthly bills on it(unfair bills at that) just so someone can get a hold of me while I am busy doing other things to tell me that I need to bring home mcdonalds.
Not to mention when people get them, they turn into careless zombies.
Leave a message, I might get back to you, and if I dont, I really dont like you that much.

As far as the PS3. Hey man, whatever works. At least with the PS3 it serves YOU some purpose.

I get your point but why a PS3? Why not PC's since pretty much everyone owns one anyway.

yeh, i mean PS3, Xbox, PC/laptop all have capabilities to communicate but how are you guys actually getting you internet/broadband to your homes?
over here in UK we only have 3 real choices for internet access:
phone (fixed)line, cable or mobile through a dongle.
me, for example, use BT which is main telecomunications provider. i pay £10 per month for 'line rental' plus bout £15 for broadband, but i need the fixed line ie the £10 per month for the broadband cos it goes through the landline.
if i opted for cable only, it comes in at a similar monthly fee but with the tv thrown in, but granted goin thru a slightly faster fibre cable. the dongle option is basically same as the mobile (cell) network and again costs similar, so all in all basically stuck with a monthly fee and a fixed line that i (hardly) ever use...
get nothing for nothing i spose....

Originally posted by joyride0187
I used to think the same thing about XBOX 360 and then found Skype. For $4.00 a month you get unlimited minutes to any landline or cellphone + a phone number with voicemail. I have a coordless phone plugged into the PC.

Cordless phones are not very secure ...just so you know.....

I've had the same cellphone for 6 years.

It's only charged when I know I need to make a call or expect a call. Maybe 10 minutes of use a month.

Otherwise it's dead in a drawer somewhere.

That's it.