Remember the marketing hype of many years ago that went something like this: “By the year 2000, every home will have a videophone.” Yeah, what happened to that? Why doesn’t everyone have a videophone?

Do you want to know why everyone has a telephone? Because they all work the same. Sure, at some businesses you have to dial 9 to get an outside line first. And in some areas, local calls are 10 digits instead of 7. But the basic idea is always the same: pick up the phone, dial a number, let it ring, and either the other person answers or they don’t, in which case it usually gets answered by a voice message of some kind. It’s worked that way for decades.

Enter the IP revolution. Internet. Video. Personal computers. Amazing potential. And yet people still mostly use their PCs for activities with which they are comfortable and familiar: transcieving emails, browsing the web, word processing. Even managing digital photos is still somewhat on the complicated side for many people. Apple has made tremendous strides simplifying the process but Microsoft and Windows are still cumbersome, awkward, unfriendly, and unfortunately still too popular for what they deserve.

Now back to the videophone conundrum. Yes, people can get free video calling as long as both ends have the same software and usually the same hardware and both have high speed internet connections. But who among all of the PC users out there is actually capable of setting this up so it actually works? 5%? 2%?

Here is where I propose a videophone service that actually works. You see, my company (see: me) has the technical capability to provide people with videophones and service that actually works and is as simple to use as a regular telephone. I have two of the units. They’re easy. You pick up the handset and dial a number, except this phone has a screen and a camera. That is all.

I can offer the service for $20/month for anyone who wants to buy a telephone for $220. So to connect two households would cost $40/month + an initial outlay of $440. I can also rent out the phones on a daily basis for under $5, but because I am a small company the economies of scale prevail. I don’t have the resources to launch a huge marketing campaign or to purchase thousands of these phones. I can add clients on a case-by-case basis. The advantages are that you always know who you’re dealing with and you know that you get personalized, personal, and personable service every time.

Now I didn’t intend this blog entry to be a marketing pitch, but if there are any readers out there who want to try out this service, please, contact me. I promise: videophoning is fun.