October 4, 2006 at 9:05 am · Authored by Ewan · Filed under Annoying, VOIP, WiFi

Well that is a load of shit, isn’t it?

Here I am delighted to see that Skype were leading the way in the worldwide WiFi marketplace by releasing Skype Zones.

I took a look at the price. £4.20. Wicked.

I took a look at the ‘wifi’ bit. Wicked.

And that was me sold.

I didn’t question it at all. I’m a victim of my Skype experience you see.

I ASSUMED that since it was a WiFi connection you could OBVIOUSLY use the internet through the connection as well.

NEVER for a moment, not even a milisecond, did I think to read the small print to see if this was only giving you Skype as opposed to open internet access. NOT for a moment.

Surely the whole point of having your LAPTOP open (so that you can *USE* the Skype Zones software) is that you can a) use Skype and b) use the internet? You know, for email?

So now if I’m sat in the Blue Boar Skyping someone with Skype Zones — and the guy says ‘ah right, ok, I’ve sent you the spreadsheet.. open it now, let me know what you think?’

What exactly am I meant to say to him? ‘I’ll call you back when I’ve connected to a proper internet service so I can get your email’

Er, no.

Thank you to eagle eyed Paul and Carlo who posted comments alerting me about just how stupid I was. Never ASSUME eh. It makes an ASS out of U and ME. And Skype Zone users.

Seriously, you need our head examined if you’re going to pay £4.20 a month for Skype access via The Cloud here in the UK when you can pay £11.99 and get proper internet access at more or less the SAME hotspots.

(I get it if you’re using a Skype phone… that could be rather cool. But using a laptop? No way.)

When a company does something like this, you know there’s a problem. It’s time to run for the hills. Trouble ‘t farm. What smart team of business smart arses got round the table at Skype HQ and said ‘Nic, mate, you know Skype Zones? Let’s make it that you can only use Skype. Wicked? Yeah? Deal?’

They should have been laughed out the board room.