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No voice? That lost all of my interest. So now I need to tap out a message on my expensive, somewhat fragile smartphone with dirty fingers while losing all sigh

by emilv 12y ago

No voice? That lost all of my interest. So now I need to tap out a message on my expensive, somewhat fragile smartphone with dirty fingers while losing all sight of the road for a minute. Instead of a sturdy walkie-talkie where I can hear the voices of my friends, talk efficiently in real sentences and I can look where I'm going all the time.

daniper 12y ago
I get it's not for everyone, but what we learned as we developed this is that more people wanted asynchronous data comms as opposed to real-time voice. And when I say "more," I mean like, 75% of testers preferred the former. From a networking perspective, as well, it makes our ad hoc reconfigurable network more scalable if we're focused on short-burst transmissions that are, technically speaking, delay-tolerant. This means that even if you're at a huge event with tons of people using goTenna, even if a gajillion of them press "send" at the exact same femtosecond, all the messages can get through in a matter of seconds if not milliseconds.
- emilv 12y ago
  That is a good point. But then I'm even less sure where I would use this. Definitely not when out hiking in the woods. I still believe I'm with the 25% that didn't prefer asynchronous messaging.
maxsilver 12y ago
I think they are legally forbidden from doing voice by the FCC, on the ultra low band spectrum they're using. (see http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/multi-use-radio-service-murs-0 http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/multi-use-radio-service-murs... search for "you can not make telephone calls") If you want walkie-talkies, there's another entire band dedicated to unlicensed voice calls - http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/family-radio-service-frs http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/family-radio-service-frs You could ask them to make a dual mode device. MURS for text/sms (and greater distance), and FRS for voice and picture messages (with less distance).
- jrockway 12y ago
  We're calling the "very high frequency" band the "ultra low band" now? Interesting.
decktech 12y ago
while losing all sight of the road for a minute. You could stop for a second, I guess. Instead of a sturdy walkie-talkie Why don't you just buy a walkie-talkie? They're cheaper, they just don't interface with your phone. But it sounds like that's what you want.

by emilv 12y ago

daniper 12y ago

I get it's not for everyone, but what we learned as we developed this is that more people wanted asynchronous data comms as opposed to real-time voice. And when I say "more," I mean like, 75% of testers preferred the former. From a networking perspective, as well, it makes our ad hoc reconfigurable network more scalable if we're focused on short-burst transmissions that are, technically speaking, delay-tolerant. This means that even if you're at a huge event with tons of people using goTenna, even if a gajillion of them press "send" at the exact same femtosecond, all the messages can get through in a matter of seconds if not milliseconds.

emilv 12y ago
That is a good point. But then I'm even less sure where I would use this. Definitely not when out hiking in the woods. I still believe I'm with the 25% that didn't prefer asynchronous messaging.

maxsilver 12y ago

I think they are legally forbidden from doing voice by the FCC, on the ultra low band spectrum they're using. (see http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/multi-use-radio-service-murs-0 http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/multi-use-radio-service-murs... search for "you can not make telephone calls") If you want walkie-talkies, there's another entire band dedicated to unlicensed voice calls - http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/family-radio-service-frs http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/family-radio-service-frs You could ask them to make a dual mode device. MURS for text/sms (and greater distance), and FRS for voice and picture messages (with less distance).

jrockway 12y ago
We're calling the "very high frequency" band the "ultra low band" now? Interesting.

decktech 12y ago

while losing all sight of the road for a minute. You could stop for a second, I guess. Instead of a sturdy walkie-talkie Why don't you just buy a walkie-talkie? They're cheaper, they just don't interface with your phone. But it sounds like that's what you want.