Vodacom WebBox Tested

[lunamystry]

Yes - many will have Internet access theoretically but 100Mb won't last you the first hour of excitement and then what?
I can see many a poor family loosing more than what they have bargained for when it comes to Vodacom.

What exactly would the family be doing on the internet?

My assumptions: The family is poor and lives in a township or lower. The parents are not well educated.

This won't work. The children probably have those cheap phones and use that to chat to friends. If they don't they are asking for a phone. Why buy this when I can get a phone? Why would I want to facebook infront of my parents?
The children will do research. I think that would be giving the South Africa education system too much credit.
TopTV/Dstv on the other hand. The whole family can laugh and enjoy. So why buy this over TopTV?
If the parents are educated, they'd probably have a computer. Why get this over what Telkom offers?
I don't see this working.

 

[Abmis]

The WebBox uses Operamini. I use opers mini on my pc using a cell phone emulater and us between 15 and 30 meg per month.

Mmm slightly suspicious first post. If you dont visit any sites that use pictures I guess this is somehow possible.

 

[Quest10n]

The WebBox uses Operamini. I use opers mini on my pc using a cell phone emulater and us between 15 and 30 meg per month.

Good for you... but remember that is how you use it and that doesn't mean others will use it the same way.

 

[Quest10n]

What exactly would the family be doing on the internet?

My assumptions: The family is poor and lives in a township or lower. The parents are not well educated.

This won't work. The children probably have those cheap phones and use that to chat to friends. If they don't they are asking for a phone. Why buy this when I can get a phone? Why would I want to facebook infront of my parents?
The children will do research. I think that would be giving the South Africa education system too much credit.
TopTV/Dstv on the other hand. The whole family can laugh and enjoy. So why buy this over TopTV?
If the parents are educated, they'd probably have a computer. Why get this over what Telkom offers?
I don't see this working.

As you stated "Your assumptions" and I guess you know what really happens in these homes?

 

[lunamystry]

As you stated "Your assumptions" and I guess you know what really happens in these homes?

Well I have an idea. Its what I think. I live in a township. I have a computer not connected to the internet and I know this is not aimed at me. I think dstv would have a better chance selling this.

 

[Oscar2]

Does the Web Box have a microphone? i.e. can I make calls from it?

 

[Jan]

Hmmm, I wonder if it can be wooooshed? Anyone have hardware specs?

No wooshing for this device - EDGE only. I did test it with a Cell C SIM, however, and it did work (at EDGE speeds).

Most probably something that failed in Europe and now being dumped in Africa.

This doesn't seem to be the case - the product was announced by Vodafone group and the press release specifically mentioned Vodacom. South Africa seems to be the first country to get this.

Opera mini has built in flash???

Not to my knowledge. But the device won't support Flash anyway.

Does the Web Box have a microphone? i.e. can I make calls from it?

Nope! It also doesn't have a dialler app, so you can't run USSD from it either.