agf's Journal: Gizmo or Gimmic?

Gizmo or Gimmic?

I recently installed Gizmo Project, because of all the hype regarding the "fact" that you can supposedly make free calls to selected countries. I thought, "wow, great...no longer need to purchase VOIP credit to call home". As always, there is a catch! I soon came to read the FAQ regarding the '"All Calls Free" Plan', afterall, I was excited and wanted to know what it was all about. Rather, I came to learn that the whole thing is a way to entice people to move to Gizmo Project, for no apparently worthwhile reason. Yes, the calls are free, but in order to actually be able to call a particular person on their landline, or mobile phone, they must also be registered Gizmo Project users. When I read this, the laughter almost knocked me off my feet. If both parties are registered Gizmo Project users, then it is more probable than not that both users have a computer at home (or in the office). Given so, it is also likely that both users already communicate for free (PC to PC) via Gizmo Project, or any other such VOIP service. So why do they need to call each other using Gizmo?! Besides, why occupy the telephone line when you don't have to?!
As if this wasn't enough to get me going...I read on. Not only do both parties have to be registered users of the service, it is required that each party have a so called "active" Gizmo Project account. What exactly does this mean?! Well, the definition below is taken from the '"All Calls Free" Plan' FAQ from the Gizmo Project website.

        An active user is one who regularly uses several communication features in Gizmo Project including:

        * Making PC-to-PC calls
        * Inviting friends to download and use Gizmo Project, encouraging them to put their telephone numbers (landline and mobile) into their profile
        * Adding those friends to their buddy list
        * Sending instant messages (IMs) between users
        * Making online purchases periodically (for identity verification)

So, let's see. Essentially, an "active" Gizmo Project account is one where the account holder undertakes free labour for Gizmo Project, by attracting other users to participate in Gizmo Project?! Oh, I almost forgot, and where the user gets something redundant in return for their efforts.

I would have taken a likening to Gizmo Project, it employs open standards for call management. However, I don't like to be treated in a condescending manner. Besides, there is VOIP software that has Video conferencing!

Check out the large range of VOIP software here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_VoIP_software

Gizmo Project '"All Calls Free" Plan' FAQ:
http://support.gizmoproject.com/FAQs/freecalls.php