Thursday, January 13, 2005
Skype
Maybe you've heard of being able to talk to someone live over the internet. I've tried this before with my S.O. He lives on the other side of the world (so :( far away) and it's expensive to call the usual way. So we tried a few different programs (MSN? Net Meeting? I can't remember) but there was always static and huge pauses between talking (or trying to talk). It always ended up being a frustrating conversation.
Then he found Skype. This sounds like a bad commercial... I don't mean it to be. Even if it does, what matters is that Skype is free! And most importantly, it worked great (and I was very skeptical about yet another internet calling program, and resisted trying it for a while after the lingering disappointment of the previous attempts).
To use it, you need to download (and run) the program (5mb), create a user name and password, and then...well, you also need someone to call. It's kind of like instant messaging only much better. You "call" another online username basically, except instead of typing, you talk! Much easier, and lots more fun.
For us, it just worked great. (USA call to Europe, very clear, and I was pleasantly surprised and quite impressed)
I plan to try and call a landline (regular phone number) this way at some point. My grandmother likes to visit relatives in far away places and calling her the conventional way is seriously expensive. Using Skype, (or rather, SkypeOut) I can buy credits ($10 is the minimum, thats 1/3 of what the last 2 very short calls to her cost, so it's worth giving it a try) and see how that works out.
If I remember to, I'll post the results. At the rate I procrastinate, it might be a while. :)
Then he found Skype. This sounds like a bad commercial... I don't mean it to be. Even if it does, what matters is that Skype is free! And most importantly, it worked great (and I was very skeptical about yet another internet calling program, and resisted trying it for a while after the lingering disappointment of the previous attempts).
To use it, you need to download (and run) the program (5mb), create a user name and password, and then...well, you also need someone to call. It's kind of like instant messaging only much better. You "call" another online username basically, except instead of typing, you talk! Much easier, and lots more fun.
For us, it just worked great. (USA call to Europe, very clear, and I was pleasantly surprised and quite impressed)
I plan to try and call a landline (regular phone number) this way at some point. My grandmother likes to visit relatives in far away places and calling her the conventional way is seriously expensive. Using Skype, (or rather, SkypeOut) I can buy credits ($10 is the minimum, thats 1/3 of what the last 2 very short calls to her cost, so it's worth giving it a try) and see how that works out.
If I remember to, I'll post the results. At the rate I procrastinate, it might be a while. :)
Comments:
Yep Skype is superb, I've been using it for a while now - crystal clear and free. I know friend that has it installed in the work place to make internal calls between different sites(Germany-UK)- saving them a fortune.
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