Okay. It’s confession time.
When I wrote 2008: The Year that VoIP died I had an ulterior motive. Although I hadn’t done Jeff Pulver’s analysis and learned that VoIP Buzz is down 46.5% during 2008, like many people I felt in my bones. I don’t think VoIP is dead. I do think the excitement has gone out of it. Perhaps that’s because of the economic climate, or perhaps that’s because it’s not as newsworthy as it once was. In any case, it was time to ignite a conversation about the future of communications again. Being an argumentative SOB, I did it by taking an extreme – some would say indefensible – position. It’s a time honoured tactic practiced by Silicon Valley’s best, Scoble and Arrington.
Personally, I was pleased to see the huge number of people participate. Most of all, I was excited to see Jeff Pulver engaged in a conversation about the voice industry again. He’s a smart guy, and his presence has been missed.
So what shall we talk about next?
Alec Saunders is the Vice President of Developer Relations for BlackBerry make Research in Motion. This is his personal blog, with his personal viewpoints. Prior to this Alec was the CEO and co-founder of Calliflower — the easiest way to hold a meeting, online, on a conference call, or on the go. A double-decade veteran of product management and marketing, he spent nine years at Microsoft where he helped launch Windows 95, the first two versions of Internet Explorer, the Universal Plug and Play initiative, the push into home markets, opt-in email marketing and what might well go down in history as the very first direct email list ever.
