Jon Arnold's Blog

Thanks Jon! I've actually been looking around for a hybrid softphone solution (looked at iCall yesterday and Vonage's vPhone). After reading your magicJack review, I'm intrigued, and a little bit afraid of it ;-) I think in the interim, I'm just going to have to bring my primus ATA to the cottage. Just to be be safe.

cheers,
jules

This is Dan Borislow the Inventor

Let me correct some of the points above.

We have International and it is less expensive than Skype and Vonage.You can call Canada,but we do not have Phone numbers available there.The corection on the 400,000 units is that we will sell 500,000 units by the end of the week.Most people do use it to replace there $90.00 a month Bell phone.We do not have an authorized Canadian Distributor.Skype does not have the ability to use a real Phone.Skype cost above $100 a year if you use skype in and Skype out.Skype does not have the use of their own Phone network and there quality stinks compared to magicJack.OOma is pathetic and is all but dead.I started and ran the 6xth largest Long Distance Network in the US and sold 4 million members on AOL.My last company was worth $2 Bil at one point.Hardly anybody else in VOIP has my level of experience or the Chairman's level of experience.All this crazy stuff about audio ads and other forms of ads is completely from left field and we do not have any plans to do anything like this and would never abuse a customer. magicJack will have more subscribers than any consumer VOIP company because of it's better quality,how it treats it's customers,and best price.Try it you'll love it.Lastly,the trouble with all other's before us is,that they built a marketing company and forgot to build a Network.We spent three years building a Network,then we started sales and marketing.This is the only way to go.That comes from experience.

Dan Borislow

Jon,
It is definitely interesting from the marketing PoV. Another company to look at is "1 button to wifi", they are selling a ATA that wholesales at $50 for $199, not bad! They also claim to extend wifi range from 300 feet to thousands of miles!! Watch the live demo video on their home page or their infomercial http://maxcast.com/1buttontowifi
- you will be rolling on the floor!

Just proves you that technology is ready , it is all marketing!

Thanks for the commments all - Moshe, Dan and Jules. Nice to see such a variety of responses, esp from Mr. Borislow.

Apparently, the level of experience that Dan has in VoIP does not extend to basic English grammar. Does he really think that his company is the first to build a network, and the he did it single handedly? Offhand, I'm thinking he's got a bad and untreated case of NPD... just like Andrew Frame! Maybe he really is Andrew in disguise?

Good summary, Jon. I have a post today comparing the cost-per-month of Skype and Magic Jack, here: http://ikeelliott.typepad.com/telecosm/2008/06/cheap-voip-op-1.html
Ike Elliott

Hate to say this, but I'm gonna anyway. Based on the article Jon Arnold has written here about "MagicJack". I just found it just hysterical! What I don't understand is why has Jon even gone there claiming he's just trying to alert us consumers as to Magicjack's "Terms" & "Agreement". Customers ALWAYS have to accept Terms, even if they Disagree with some. In spite of that. Purchasers still buy the product(s) anyway.
Considering ALL the Media Ads, Spam and Paid Programming we put up with daily, I am afraid it's way too late to STOP the madness.
The FCC, obviously has already failed us. They've done that by allowing ALL the Communications and Advertising companies to take liberties with our Civil & Privacy rights.
I am going to Play "Devil's Advocate" here for a moment. What MagicJack is doing here with their list of "Terms" is to simply follow the past examples of other companies that shoved their knock-off products, down our throats. It's always going to be about figuring other ways of making even more money with the use of the main, innovative product. This is what ALL, large & small companies do, on the open market. Prime examples. Microsoft, AOL, AT&T. Verizon and list goes on and on. For those few that didn't know. This is what businesses do! No. It doesn't make it OK. But. SELLING ALL they possibly can to the Consumer is ALL that matters to a business. In fact if the public was honestly and sincerely serious about protecting "Their" PRIVACY and WALLETS. They would have, a long, long time ago, STOP allowing the abuse of "ALL" of our Consumer Rights by these companies and their marketing companions. By that I mean. We would NOT have allowed, for such a long time ago, for so many companies to take the liberties that they do by trying to sell us everything from cigarettes, toilet paper, to pills for ailments we have "no idea" existed. This is being done 24/7 and with a vengeance. It's as if, WE WERE NEVER paying attention to the way of the strategist, past and present was up to. Now that it's ALL gotten out of hand, people like Jon Arnold, believe by reading the fine print, you can regain your power of CHOICE and protect yourself. Not really! Most people, unfortunately, gave that POWER up a long time ago. Whether by "will" or "subliminally". How sad! But that's reality.
And. If you think for a minute Jon Arnold or the rest of us are any the safer or wiser by reading the fine print in the "Terms & Conditions" of a contract, then we have also become quite naive.
But. If it's of any comfort. Do realize. Most of the "Companies" that devise these extensive "TERMS" and "AGREEMENTS" for their products, most often, if not always, are the very one's that end up in litigation amongst their pairs. Less often it's the "Consumer" in violation of these tactful and expensive, AGREEMENTS. Therefore. Go ahead and Read Your CONTRACTS. But chill out. Most cases usually involve the greedy company trying to immorally outwit YOU, the Consumer.
In spite of it ALL . Thanks Jon for the nice gesture!

Hi Fern. Thanks for the comment. You never know who is reading your blog, and it's great to get these types of opinions. Your comment reads like a long caveat emptor warning, which I totally agree with.

You may think I'm over reacting to this particular aspect of my post, but in our space - IP communications - it's a pretty big deal. I'm drawing attention to it, because while products like these are offering a real benefit for the mass market, there really are strings attached that most buyers would be totally unaware of until they start using the product. I'm not saying that's a deal breaker, but in a case like this, you are fundamentally altering an experience that most people take for granted. Any time you're offering something that looks too good to be true - and in this case, the product IS good - but where certain basic behaviors or experiences will change - that's where you run into problems. It looks to me that magicJack's success will be highly dependent on selling targeted advertising, and if that's being glossed over, I think that's problematic. Some buyers will be fine with it, and others will balk. When you're paying for something like this, I just think it's only fair to be more upfront about something that is integral to what you're selling.

The privacy issue is another topic, but important on its own. Sure, we all accept less privacy in today's Internet world, and that just comes with the territory. However, this type of privacy erosion is new and a bit insidious, as now your everyday calling patterns are being watched and harvested for the benefit of advertisers. Sorry, but I just don't think this will sit well with Middle America, which is the target audience for this product.

I agree with many who have posted their comments about majicjack, especially with the skepticism about the no opt out policy for advertisers/majic jack to analyze your phone calls. I could tolerate the advertisements on my majicjack softpad, but I am really uncomfortable with them scanning my phone calls, getting my friend's phone numbers and allowing advertisers access to that information. Unfortunately, I read the blogs and terms of service after I purchased the product. Now, I am afraid to use it and will be sending it directly back. I appreciate everyone's comments. It helps to stay informed.
Anita

Thanks very much for your comment, Anita. So glad to hear your thinking on this, as I suspect many people would share your concerns.

Dan Borislow, if you're never going to force audio ads and other forms of ads upon customers, why do you reserve the right to do so in the terms of use? If you're not going to do it, why not remove that from the TOS?

This magicjack is lame. it never works properly u constantly have to download magic fix, the quality really bites, and customer support ALWAYS BLAMES UR internet provider (they tell me they have a problem with ATT,verizon, and time warner) or they will blame your new computer and your stuck with this POS. I've had Vonage for 2 years before magicjack same internet provider broadband, and never had such problems like no dial tone/constantly cant dial out or recieve.
but I guess you get what you pay for. Garbage.
I dont think these guys who do the Reviews what they got paid to write such a good revirews the produc suck and the customer service worst in the nation.

Thanks for the comment Miguel. Sorry to hear this isn't what you expected. I can't help you on that front, though, and suggest you share this directly with magicJack. Good luck.

MJ has a great concept. Too bad there PR dept stinks--and I really mean awful.

Got help from mj support to start use, but I could not connect to internet with my Dsl light. Is there another option than getting a upgrade on Dsl to 1.5?

Sorry Mel, but I really can't help you there. My guess is that you need a faster version of DSL to use this, and something as basic as this should have been clearly explained by MJ. You'll have to sort that out with them - I don't have any ties to the company, and I'm not using the product. They were going to get back to me about trying it out, but I haven't heard from them since.

I bought 2 majicjacks, one for my home and one for our family in the Philippines. Majicjack to Majicjack calls are free from anywhere from any broadband connected computer in the world. So far the quality and service is great, except for trying to call from/to government/industrial lines that are VOIP with heavy duty firewalls. I have a 7 year old Vaio laptop I use as the server (my wife prefers it for her internet e-mail, etc anyway). With the lid closed it runs in a low power state. We turn it off at night just to keep the phone quiet since it has free voice mail included. All the VOIPs are great. Maybe the day of very low cost phone service is getting closer with OOMA, Majicjack and others getting around the triditional phone companies.

I have a MajicJack. I installed on PC I keep in the basement and plugged a portable phone base station into it. The base station supports multiple phones, so they are all over the house. So far I have not had any problems with the MJ or call quality. I had to download a MajicFix to get it going, but that was a one-time occurrence. I was unaware of the potential privacy issues (didn't read the fine print).

Thanks for the positive comments, Jerry and Tom. Pretty interesting that some people love MJ and some people feel the opposite. All I can say is... read the fine print - it's the only way you'll really understand what you're getting. Nothing is free in this world...

Dan, building a CLEC network is something new? The world is moving away from it and here is magicjack building a traditional network. At the end of the day you can build all the networks you want, but the last mile to the customer is key. If you are relying on the public internet, the magicjack quality will be the same as Vonage, Skype, TeleBlend, Pack8 etc.
So why bother spending millions building a network? For a guy that is an inventor, there does not seem to be much innovation. At a price of $20 per year, they are after "eyeballs" which means ad revenue. You can't possibly think that the $20 per year for unlimited usage has margin in it, can you?
I would be careful about signing up. You need to make sure that the company that is providing phone service to you is making some type of money. If not, they will simply take your money and run. I think we have seen that before, haven't we, people.
Dan, just because you fooled the world before with AOL and made money does not mean you can do it again. If Kenneth Lay from Enron said "come buy my product because I have made millions before" would you do it?

Ok, let's do the math:

I guesstimate that magicJack sold 500,000 units by June 14, 2008, per Dan Borislow. At 8,000 units being sold a day, how many magicJacks will be sold by September 6, 2008?

June 14, 2008 500,000 units
June 21, 2008 556,000
June 28, 2008 612,000
July 5, 2008 668,000
July 12, 2008 724,000
July 19, 2008 780,000
July 26, 2008 836,000
August 2, 2008 892,000
August 9, 2008 948,000
August 16, 2008 1,004,000
August 23, 2008 1,060,000
August 30, 2008 1,116,000
September 6, 2008 1,172,000

Have a Happy Labor Day! :)

MajicJack is the worst product I've ever purchased. Support is non-existent and of course you cannot contact Dan Borislow. I've had problems with, long rings I'm unable to answer, I can't hear callers, callers can't hear me, calls going directly to voicemail, and the list goes on and on. And now, to top it off, a message to callers is indicting the number is no longer in service. Hmmmmm. The BBB rating of "F" is right on. What a RIP-OFF.

I've had the magicjack for two months now, and my experience has been excellent. Ran magicfix once to solve stuttering sound, and it worked great after that. Doesn't have a problem with my using anonymizer proxy server, voice quality is great. Only problem that recurs is that when you get a voicemail they send you a WAV file of it, which raises privacy concerns, and for some reason the WAV file doesn't play on WinMedia.

I think Jon's reading of the terms to see possible audio ads is, at best, a stretch. They put ads in a small window on the control panel, big deal. The biggest concern to me in the terms is one Jon doesn't cover - they reserve the right to change your phone number at any time. Probably something they would never do, but it would be a real pain to customers if they ever did.

I've had this thing for awhile ,and have their magicjack c.s.phone number saved on my other computer. when I called them they couldn't hear me, just like all the other people I've called. even after the magic fix. I still have my land line and can call my spouse to test it, once in a blue moon it works. but as soon as I try to call someone they hang up ,they think it's either a prank call or a telemarketer. and other times it rings on their end but I don't hear anything. I also tried a getting a different number in a bigger city ,to see if that would help. same as before. so when it's time to renew ,I doubt if I will. maybe sell it to someone with a 100 megabyte connection and see if it works for them.
I have 6008 kbps down and 768 kbps up, comcast has 15 mbps down and 512 up (where I live) and I know vonage works well on my router, but mj isn't ready for regular use in this part of the world yet.

Well my experience with the MJ is this my computer was running fine until this thing was hooked up and it (my computer) started freezing up going from page to page was very hard I would leave a page up and return 30 min later and still no action so I have chosen to take it out and hope I can recovery on my computer and besides I don't make that many long distance calls anyway and certainly don't know anyone in Canada to call wish I did but I don't so guess I will stick to my roll over min, I have on my cell phone and make all my calls on it..

I am completely shocked at how Dan Borislow has misrepresented his product, and his "free, 30 day trial" which is nonexistant. I ordered 2 on the trial, just to have my credit card immediately charged. I went to their chat window customer service, and they refused all phone numbers to reach anyone at an administrative level. They charged my creditcard without my authorization, after they sent me an email stating it would not be charged for 30 days. They then refused to reverse the charge. I will not accept their delivery, I will file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, and look into a class action lawsuit against this company, as it seems thousands have been scammed by this company's blatant misrepresentation. This company will wish they had tried to rip off someone else, or at least tried to do the right thing. the 93.00 they ripped me off for will be a drop in the bucket compared to the time they will spend answer all the complaints i will file with every and any governmental organization that regulates their industry, organization, or practices.

It also seems that Dan has gone to painstaking precautions to make sure that no one can actually call anyone to speak with a live voice concerning any problem. Although public records and the internet do give several leads. I plan on doing my best to get him or an affiliate of some kind on the phone in the next day.

The moral of the story is don't trust a phone company that tells you they do not have a phone number you can call if you have a problem with billing or anything else. A phone company with no phones sure sounds fishy.............

I was the first person around here to get MJ and then numerous people at work followed suit and they have all been raving about it...You can hook it up through your existing phone lines in the house by unplugging the outside phone jack and plug your mj line into a jack making them all work...and the quality is just fine most of the time...Occasionally I get a "in a well" kinda of sound and I hang it up before dialing and then wait a few seconds,pick it back up and all is well...As for the ads...Ads are a part of life...Doesn't bother me in the least...Come on!!!...$19.95 a year versus $840 through Bell?...No contest,even if it doesn't work perfectly every time!

If there is going to be a class action law suit againt magicjack, let me know so I can join. I bought it, the bottom line is it doesn't work. I had to fix my computer after down loading the magicscam in mean magicjack.

I should have done my homework first. Don't get trapped into a use it for 30days free.

Here is the phone number that I found pending on my on-line statement 561-594-2140 $46.90 and again 561-594-2140 $1.00. When I called the 561 #, which is a machine their was another # I called 281-404-1551, I did talk to someone, a man, and when I ask for his street address, he said, I am not allowed to give that information out. I said, cause you don't really have a phscial address. I wanted to return it certified. The shipping label where it came from is Magicjack, POB 6846, West Palm Beach,FL 33405

I hope this help's everyone out seeking information on Magic Jack.

I hate scammers!

Karen in Virginia

Great comment, Karen. It sounds like others share your pain, and I'm glad you've got a forum to speak your mind. Thanks for the comment!

Please put me in contact with anyone who is interested in filing a class action suite. I also would like to cancel my order. I had this 30 day trial and can't get the phones to work at all and it has slowed my computer down so badly I really regret having bought the stupid phones.

Is anyone out there interested in filing a class action suite against MagicJack? IF so, please contact me. I also asked for a 30 day trial only to have my credit card debited immediately. I can't get the phones to work and it has slowed down my computer drastically. I want to get the whole program out of my computer but can't figure out how to do it. One guy recommened a method, but I went to that website and it was another come-one for a product that cost $385. Well, if I implement that, I am not saving any money. I hate that I fell for this stupid ad. Sharon

Thanks for your comments, Sharon. I don't follow MJ as a matter of course right now, so I'm not the best person to ask beyond what I've done in my blog posts about them. If you really want to pursue this, am sure there are MJ chat rooms or user groups out there, but you'd have find them first. Good luck!