Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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cell phonebooth

new idea
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This is either a replica or refurbished phone booth with added features. It would require advertisement of its added features. The user would enter, deposit money and be granted use of the booth. Upon entering, a WiFi signal would allow the user to download an app that pairs their phone with the booth. The user's cell phone would pair using Bluetooth and allow them to make calls over the booths hardwired Voip. Because Bluetooth is present, the booths original handset would be employed for the call.

Why? There are plenty of dead spots existing where such a booth could generate a profit. The booth would require access to the internet. The calls would be relayed over Voip. Instead of searching for a good signal people could just step inside the booth. It would provide shelter from rain and grant a false sense of privacy.

Btw, I did search HB before posting, and found an idea with the same title. I think this idea is original enough to stand on its own as a new idea.

evilpenguin, Oct 15 2012

totally baked http://www.google.c.....1ac.1.yTWjCQbcRcA
[xandram, Oct 17 2012]

[link]






       So, you enter the booth, deposit money in the phone, use the phone's handset to talk and the phone's hardwiring to make the call.   

       . . . brain typo ?
FlyingToaster, Oct 15 2012
  

       The person being called would get the users phone number through caller ID. Essentially relaying the cell phone through VoIP where cell signals are non existent.
evilpenguin, Oct 16 2012
  

       ahhh, I see... you could also use the other cellphone amenities like personal phonebook too.
FlyingToaster, Oct 16 2012
  

       An alternate use for this installation could be to provide shelter from the elements in remote locations where a strong signal is present in a few very specific sites. When I was working on a wind turbine erection project a few years ago, the common practice was to mark a strong signal location by making an X on the ground, usually with sticks or rocks. I still chuckle at the memory of a hardhatted worker standing on an X, hunched over his phone to shelter it from a howling gale, while two or three other workers huddled nearby, waiting for their turns to stand on the X.
Alterother, Oct 16 2012
  

       Pay-access public WiFi already exists.   

       //booths hardwired Voip//   

       I think you may be confused about the nature of VoIP, because this makes no sense. VoIP is strictly a software protocol. All you have to do is connect your phone to a WiFi network and you can use any VoIP program you want.   

       //Because Bluetooth is present, the booths original handset would be employed for the call.//   

       This really doesn't make sense. Why would you bother running the VoIP software on the smartphone when you could just as easily run it on the booth's hardware, obviating the need for any smartphone in the first place?   

       The only thing remotely novel with this idea is the form factor, which is basically putting a WiFi router with a pay gateway into a phone booth. The booth, however, is completely superfluous and adds nothing to the idea, I'm afraid.
ytk, Oct 16 2012
  

       I think it's a great idea - there are times when I want to make a call, but I don't want to deal with fluctuating signal strengths, be drowned out by sirens, crowd-noise, wind, rain or hail and all while trying to avoid having my conversation overheard by random passers by. The idea of a booth I can walk into and get a few minutes of privacy is an attractive one - and sadly one that has all but dissapeared in the last 20 years or so. Hell, I'd use one of these just to escape the crowds, if I had to pretend to talk to someone on my phone while I did it, that'd be a price worth paying.
zen_tom, Oct 16 2012
  

       Okay, I admit that using the handset may appear to be irrelevant. But the idea behind using it is to create a novelty aspect of the booth. The handset, if I could elaborate, would still be connected to the original phone the booth used. Therefore, the option of placing a call directly on it would still exist, circumventing the core of my idea, but allowing for a greater profit opportunity. Added bonus, you could hang up on a person with the nostalgic clang created when those old phones were used. Also there wouldn't be any need to remove the original phone when restoring the booth. Cell phones are great, but the environment isn't. This would give people the option, for a fee, to use their phone where they otherwise could not. Would anyone in their right mind use a brand new phone in a windy, rainy, weak signal area?
evilpenguin, Oct 16 2012
  

       As one who often vomits up absolutely incredible world-shaking ideas as   

       "hhhnnn ARfff Arf mankle, ther ya go, brilliant eh?"   

       allow me to translate:   

       "A "sync" button on existing payphones so the caller can transmit their personal phone number and use their own directory from their cellphone"
FlyingToaster, Oct 16 2012
  

       Thanks airborne fresh bread browner. That translation is fitting. Ytk, what's wrong? You seam angry. Bad day? Go for a long walk (hopefully lose cell reception) and think about this. People will buy anything. Why wouldn't a company pick this up? Its a NEW way to create profit. It may be convoluted, but if it provides a way to make calls from your phone in geographically restricting areas I think people would use it. Why drive aimlessly to find a signal when you could just use this booth? Clever positioning of the booth would guarantee business opportunity. And with my idea of using existing booths start up costs would be minimal.
evilpenguin, Oct 16 2012
  

       I've already pointed out that there's nothing new to this idea. You deleted that annotation. I have nothing further to say.
ytk, Oct 17 2012
  

       //a false sense of privacy. //   

       +
rcarty, Oct 17 2012
  

       About the deleted anno ytk, that was by mistake. I look at HB on my phone and my thumb hit delete instead. Sorry. I don't believe in deleting annos. Think it cheapens the HB. I was actually trying to click on your profile to see your ideas. Feel free to shit on any of my ideas. Bad response is still a response
evilpenguin, Oct 17 2012
  

       I bunned you but I dearly hope this never happens. There will develop a cultural idea that it's okay to have to use a booth, where speech is easily tracked, recorded, and suppressed.
Voice, Oct 17 2012
  

       Thanks for the explanation—I'm in complete agreement with you about deleting annos, so I really do appreciate it.   

       Anyway, I've pretty much said all I have to say about this idea. I didn't intend to come across as angry and I'm sorry if I did. I still stand by my opinion that there's nothing really new here, but I'm now sufficiently persuaded that there may actually be a germ of a novel idea here to retract my MFD.
ytk, Oct 17 2012
  

       I can imagine great frustration, if a person is out, their phone is lost or out of power or credit, so they look for a phone box... aha! There's one over there half a mile away across a shark infested bed of nails. But it'll be worth the effort of getting there... <half an hour later> ok... I have to pair my phone with this booth before I can make a call.. oh.
pocmloc, Oct 17 2012
  

       //shark infested bed of nails// you people are full of awesome
evilpenguin, Oct 17 2012
  

       Yeah, I spilled canned peaches down the front of my shirt when I read that line.
Alterother, Oct 17 2012
  
      
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