Skype, the best thing since saran wrap

With the advent of macro and micro technology our ever-shrinking world becomes more accessable than ever before. Not only does the internet offer scads of information, and misinformation (so be very careful what you glean, for it may not be true), but a multitude of techno-gadgets abound and are readily available to us, the unwashed masses, at prices that even a McBarfie’s burger flipper can afford.

I’m not a big fan of some of these acquisitions. Twitter, a ubiquitous and, I think, insidious addition to our culture is the hallmark of a life so full of self aggrandizement and centrist thinking that everyone wants to know exactly what you’re doing right now. MySpace is another offerng that started out innocently enough but has become a black pit of self indulgence.

But the cream always rises to the top. And that brings us to what I consider an inevitable invention of the computer age. Skype. Too good to be true? This is the exception to that rule.

Most of you have at least heard of Skype, and some of you are first hand users of the program. This blog is not for you, first handers. So you can bail if you want to and no one will fault you for it. If you do hang in there and find mistakes in my missive then please forgive me and correct what needs it.

My daughter, Elizabeth, has moved to Lucknow, India through a program funded by her alma mater, The Universtiy of Washington in Seattle, The Gates Foundation, and others. She will be there at least 6 months to a year to teach children, offer some help to unwed mothers, and teach other socially valuable skills. I’m not real clear on the program but it’s supposed to help. That’s all I know.

Now that she’s so far away she begged me a few weeks ago to get on Skype.com, download what I need, and then we can talk/see each other. So that’s what I did. And believe it or not, it works.

Please excuse my bad videography. Flip won’t handle objects this close.

What Skype does is allows you to contact (call) another computer which also has Skype and allows the users to talk to and see each other as they converse, all for FREE. FREE I tell you. FREE.

Not only that. You can call a land-line or cell phone anywhere in the world. The “phone” calls cost money. It’s easy to set up your account, and for a few bucks you can jabber for hours. Are you ready for this? How about $.02 a minute? That’s two cents. Some places are a few cents more or less, but the idea here is that it’s cheap. That’s to any phone from your computer, or from your phone to another, or from phone to computer.

Conference calling is possible with this little helper.

This morning I was tickled to death talking to Elizabeth. I was able to see how well she looked, how excited she was to be there, and how FREE it was. FREE I tell you. FREE! (Reminds me of that movie, oh you know the one, where Mel whatshisname screams “FREEEEDOOOOM” as they rip his guts out with a dull saw. If that was me I’d be screaming alright, but not anything we could print here.)

If you have relatives and friends who live further than a local call away tell them to get Skype, download it. and you’ll all be glad you did. It’s the best thing about the computer I can think of. Well, almost the best thing. Photoshop is pretty cool, too.