Gathunuku

Sense at last .

For a late 20 something, I am pretty useless at it, video games. I, of course, get awed by the coolness of the names, the hi-def graphics and incredible specs of the latest game consoles (xbox360, ps3) but to actually play games on them? Nope, am utterly useless.

I had just about given up until Nintendo thought up the wii. Instead of mindlessly violent titles encouraging 15 year olds to steal, kill and maim (virtually?), I was actually playing stroke play golf, bowling, enjoying a round of tennis and boxing! All interactively and more importantly not seated on some long suffering sofa for hours on end. A boxing match had me breaking a sweat and finally seeing eye to eye on something, anything with the teen aged relation who owned the console.

That’s when my mind changed. At last a game console that wouldn’t turn one into an anti-social, lazy, sorry soul. So when I see articles like these and whole websites essentially cataloguing the gazillion permutations of ways one could sustain injury playing the wii, from slipped controllers smashing vases, collisions between players and even dislocated knees my first thoughts are who are these people kidding? Take a jog around your street and the same exact things could happen to you.

Nintendo, you got this one spot on.

Voice 2.0. No, it’s not another buzzword (Web 2.0 anyone, the next thing, but for what to the chap on the street in Nairobi?) this one actually delivers, seriously.

Some (read diaspora KTs) may already know about flat rate phone services. I’m talking about the kind where they charge a fixed fee (really low, about £10/$10 per month) and include unlimited landline calls. Of course many haven’t got a clue why telcos have become this generous with their service offerings and honestly end-users shouldn’t care.

Enter VOIP. Unlike it’s older cousins (proprietary and expensive standards), voice over IP is not expensive to layout, maintain or install. It’s based on open standards (SIP, H.323 et al) and runs on free software (asterisk is one). End result? A platform that delivers a fantastic , feature rich service with marginal costs heading way south. Obviously, a service like this is what the people laying cables in the country want to roll out.

Sasa, as ever, technology has got to be told and sold in better ways on our continent. Filling their marketing rhetoric with flashy buzzwords and tech lingo does not help the service providers and certainly not their clients. Providing a useful, reliable and affordable service is what does. So I hope, for their own sake, the plan is to do just that and not try to make extraordinary returns.

For small and mid sized businesses reading this, here’s how to save money on your communication bill. Take on VoIP. For your PBX, Asterisk is an excellent choice. It can run off a standard P.C and this version called trixbox comes fully pre-configured. For help in setting one up, one could approach techies like the Kenya LUG who I’m sure will be happy to help.
Running a cyber cafe? The Gizmo project is just what you need. It’s a VoIP client, kind of like Skype, but a lot more advanced. They are currently doing free calls to 60 countries (incl USA, UK, Canada et al) doubling your international calling service margins. The entrepreneurial types could use this step by step guide to build PBX boxes on the cheap and earn themselves a tidy profit. So let’s all (techies, business people et cetera) do our bit to make Voice 2.0, whatever it’s definition, deliver to the mwananchi.