magicJack, the giant killer

magicJack -- Take some time and watch the videos here. Giant-killing has come into its own.

My friend Jon down in Florida, always the connoisseur of frugality, told me about this just this afternoon. Just as Vonage and Skype have made inroads into the AT&T turf, this product makes inroads into the Vonage and Skype territory.

Jon exited the POTS plantation a short while ago and picked up Vonage, then added Skype, and is now considering replacing the Vonage with MagicJack. It makes financial sense if the outlay is about $40 for the jack and $20 a year after the first year.

Total communications can soon be comprised of a package of MagicJack, a cable connection or easy access to wi-fi, a cellphone, and Skype for a backup.

Note that the website offer says that the Free Trial Offer expires today.

For a New Thrift: Confronting the Debt Culture

Op-Ed Columnist - David Brooks - The Great Seduction by Debt - Op-Ed - NYTimes.com -- David Brooks on Ben Franklin, and then the past 30 years--a "must read." Succinct. Concise. Well phrased.

Keywords & keyphrases: Benjamin Franklin, hard work, temperance, frugality, industrious, ambitions, living for the moment, decadent, moral guardians, debt culture, the lottery class, value shift, consequences.

Note the enumeration of the agents of destruction.