Yes, it's genuine. The reason you see so little activity on these blogs is because most new Ether users think they can just register and their phones will start ringing off the hook. When that doesn't happen, they just lose interest and never return to read (or answer) blog-posts.
The reason your phone won't start ringing wildly is because Ether isn't promoted by its owners (AT&T), who just happened to acquire it with a much bigger company they had bought, and they've never really been interested in this tiny part of their acquisition. Still, it's a terrific (and unique) service!
The way to MAKE your phone ring is to do your own self-promotion, through other methods, and simply consider Ether to be a convenient way for you to serve people via the phone and collect a fee for it. In other words, think of it as being like PayPal--you wouldn't enroll with PayPal and expect to start selling stuff automatically, it's just a way to get paid when you DO sell something.
When I say "other methods," I mean any (or all) of the following:
1. Advertising your services on craigslist.com.
2. Promoting yourself on a Website of your own.
3. Visiting relevant on-line "communities" and posting helpful information (NOT self-promotional SPAM, which could get your post deleted and/or get yourself banned from the site), accompanied by a signature-line containing your Website's URL, your Ether phone number, or the Ether "call button."
4. Putting your Ether number on your business cards, and visiting group events where you can talk to people and give them your card.
5. Sending out mailings or, in some cases, email-blasts (which many email systems automatically send to the trash as SPAM) promoting your services. You can find many mailing-list services on the Web, although the names/addresses they sell are almost exclusively businesses, not individuals.
6. Running ads in such media as local newspapers, radio, or TV.
7. Obtaining interviews by the media, in which your Website's URL can be montioned (you will, of course, have the Ether "call-button" on your Website).
8. Writing interesting/helpful articles about your field of expertise, and distributing those articles to your local media, or distributing them nationally through any of the various article-distribution services available on the Web.
Etc., etc.
The fact is, I myself haven't begun using my Ether account yet, because my clients tend to be corporations, not individuals, and they've usually stayed with me for many years. However, now that the recession has forced them to slash their budgets--including their budgets for outside consultants--I'm planning to give my Ether account a little workout.
By the way, in addition to having created a couple of the fastest-growing companies in America--in totally diverse industries--I've also been a Marketing, Sales, and Management adviser to more than 3,000 small businesses and startups. In addition, I helped the Chicago AT&T Security Systems dealership to boost its sales by 400% in a single month, and I've served as Vice President of a few Chicago-area banks. In case it matters, I'm also an ordained minister (non-denominational), and a grandfather.
So if you own (or are planning to start) a business, you might be able to grow it faster--or avoid the tragic failures suffered by some 90% of startups--by giving me a call on my Ether number, which is 1-888-MY-ETHER, ext. 04262579. It's currently set to allow you to talk to me for FREE at first, until we both decide it's worth talking further. And then it costs you only $25 for each half-hour.
Meanwhile, I wish you the best of luck in all your endeavors!