The Skype’s the Limit
Published by Toni April 6th, 2006 in Uncategorized.About 7 or 8 years ago I tried out talking with someone over the computer for the first time (VOIP). It was with a cute Marine guy I had met at IRC who was stationed somewhere in Japan .
I was thinking how cool it would be to finally talk with the guy since so far our conversations had so far been merely typed out to each other. However, I was disappointed when we finally tried to talk. There was a lot of lag time; his voice broke up a lot; there was so much static; and we could barely hear each other. After several futile minutes we gave up and went back to IRC.
Fast forward to this Tuesday night. An old friend of mine from England but currently living in Hong Kong had invited me to a game of Warcraft 3 online. He suggested that we chat over the computer while we play because it’s more fun talking rather than typing out messages while we kick some orc butt. Naturally, due to my past experience with VOIP, I was hesitant until my friend told me about Skype. It’s a software that you download that allows you to talk to anyone over the world for FREE. And it’s absolutely amazing, I tell ya. I put on my headset and heard my friend’s voice crystal clear. I could at times even hear the faint sound of his typing on the keyboard, the rustling of the chair when he moved. There’s no lag, no static, no break up- it’s like talking on a regular phone. I was amazed. I wish I had this technology years ago, when my boyfriend was living in Japan (not the Marine; a different guy) and I was still at UCLA. Oh, the money we could have saved in long distance phone bills!
You can also use Skype to call a regular phone or cell phone, but in that case it costs some money.
Now, Skype also comes with a video option, which is cool, but I’m kind of reluctant in activating it. Most of the time that I’m home, I’m in my grubby PJ’s. I want to use Skype more often with my international friends, but I don’t exactly want them to see me looking like a troll, unshowered and hunched over my laptop.
Anyway, Skype kicks ass. So ends my ad for them.
Technorati Tags: VOIP, Skype, phone, international, long distance, computer, Warcraft 3
5 Responses to “The Skype’s the Limit”
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One of my best friends plans on using it this summer when he’s in Ireland for an internship so he can keep in contact with his family and friends. I’m glad to hear it works so well.
I know Yahoo! Messenger has a feature where you can “call” another computer, but I’ve never used it. But the video/audio features in Yahoo! and MSN messengers seem to work really well.
The Skype camera software is still in beta but works pretty well. The resolution is low, but framerates are good, and it’s not too much of a bandwidth hog. I’m pretty sure that any friend who’s known me any length of time has probably already seen me hunched over the keyboard like a troll on multiple occasions, and by now in fact would be rather shocked to see me unhunched or devoid of trollish aspect, so I’m never afraid to use the webcam
Of course, I haven’t worked out how to stop Skype activating the cam automatically on making a call yet, and I tend to leave the bloody thing plugged in… need to be careful about that.
Well, you sold me! I’ll check it out.
Brooke- Glad to hear my info was useful
Haemi- Good point about Yahoo messenger, but I’m pretty sold on Skype at least for now.
Makkuro- I didn’t realize it was still in beta. Seems all right to me! As for the webcam, yeah it’s good to be careful. In my case, ya never know when a certain boyfriend of mine decides to walk around in the altogether
Bug- Cool! Enjoy.