Magic Jack - Not so magical if you leave your PC on 24/7

The makers of MagicJack claim that they can give you "unlimited" calling in the USA for just $39.99 for the first year and $19.99. Ok sounds good so far; and they continue to tell us that we can throw out our old phone! Amazing, but I thought about this for a few moments and said to myself "hey thats great if you want to turn your PC on and make a call and then shutdown the PC". But they give you a phone number so you can receive calls.. ok wait a second, that means your PC needs to be on to receive a call; and of course you need an internet connection; so that means you need to leave your PC and internet connection on 24x7x365

I'm going to compare a traditional land line, Magic Jack, and a Broadvoice VOIP Plan with 400 minutes of usage; and we'll factor in the internet costs to run it as follows: Average High Speed Internet at $40 a month; so lets dedicate $10 of that cost to the phone usage.

Monthly Service Fees:
Land Line: Approx $30 + Tax
Magic Jack: $3.33 ($39.99 / 12 months)
Broadvoice: $18.95 + Tax

Monthly Long Distance:
Land Line: Using ECG (http://www.ecglongdistance.net/) $0.025 / min = $10 (i've been using them for 2 years on my land line, never an issue)
Magic Jack: $0
Broadvoice: $0

Ok so far this is a no brainer, MJ is in the lead! But lets look at electricity usage and Internet usage.

Montly Electricity Cost:
Land Line: $0
Magic Jack: Desktop Computer uses 200 watts for 720 hours per month or about $23 a month
Magic Jack: Laptop Computer uses about 15 watts for 720 hours per month or about $1.50 a month
Broadvoice: Device uses 10 watts for 720 hours per month = 7.2 KWH or about $1.00 a month

Montly Internet Cost:
Land Line: $0
Magic Jack: $10
Broadvoice: $10

And the monthly totals for the first year:
Land Line: ~$45 USD
Magic Jack w/desktop computer: ~$46 USD
Magic Jack w/laptop computer: ~$15 USD
Broadvoice: ~$31 USD

Interesting results. Sure one could argue I shouldn't have included a portion of the internet costs and with that a MJ with a laptop would win out at a measly $5 a month. However the point of this article isn't to find the cheapest solution, its to prove that there is always more to the story than first presented. Personally, paying for a PC to be on 24x7x365, trusting that its operating system or programs won't crash, hoping my internet connection doesn't drop and wondering if the electricity will hold as a summer thunderstorm rolls by when i'm waiting for an important call doesn't sway me to change.

I'll take the comfort in knowing that my land line is there about 99.9999% of the time. And this past December when we lost power to our house for 7 days due to an ice storm, one service was there the entire time. Our land line...

Does the MJ work? Sure for people who want to make a call here and there, or travel on the road an bring a cheap phone alternative with them. But I think it's hardly a replacement for a house phone. So choose wisely; think about the big picture.. most people will throw their money at a MJ because they think they will save...but thats their problem, not mine...unless of course they read this blog...

Whatever...

Live Reporters - WTF?

Ok what is it with live reporters on the nightly News? More than half the time the news directors put someone "ON THE SCENE" is utterly useless. Ok I can see how this would work if there is actual breaking news going on; but what I don't get is the live reports when there is nothing happening. For instance we see the reporter standing outside in the bitter cold; behind them stands a building with not lights on. Then they start off "Behind me is the building where 12 hours ago a watermelon rolled out the door... *Cue Tape*". WTF? Why are they wasting their time being out there when nothing is going on?

Don't get me started on the hurricane reporters who report live from an eroded beach as follows: "No one should be outside during a time like this...*CUE 142 mph wind gust*..."

Whatever...