FON vs. Whisher
I took a look at Whisher recently. Some of my VoIP blogging bretheren have, too.
The short version: Whisher will enter the dead pool before FON, even though FON probably has a higher burn rate with all the free routers they are giving out. The reasons:
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FON is giving out FREE (or really cheap) WiFi routers. The hackers have figured out how to liberate the FON router, so even if FON goes south, the router will still have a useful life. What’s not to like about that? Whisher is giving us a WiFi finder/IM application. We need another one of those app like we need a hole in the head.
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I don’t know about you, but I don’t like sharing my WiFi access point’s WEP/WPA key. In order to accomplish what Whisher does without special software on the router itself, that’s exactly what you have to do. That not only opens up an admittedly small home into your network, it also does nothing to protect your internal network from Whishers using your network. FON protects your internal network by segregating the public FON WiFi and your private WiFi network. The two networks are separate and firewalled from each other.
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Where is Whisher’s business model? They say they are going to offer paid services later. Considering they have little to offer in the way of incentives to get this service in the first place, I just can’t see them getting to that point.
What am I missing here? Am I right that Whisher is destined for the dead pool? Share your thoughts with me.
