I’ve shied away from chat tools like AIM or ICQ over the years. I’ve never cared for the fact that one must type out a conversation as one is having it. I much prefer email which allows me a bit more thought in composing. I do get involved in email flurries with several of my friends and the emails fly back and forth. Still there’s a bit more time to pause and think when composing longer statements and pauses don’t seem endless as I recall they did on ICQ. This isn’t ICQ’s fault, it’s just the way I work.
Then yesterday I came across Skype. I’d heard about it before but had dismissed it at the time. I’m not much of phone person, yet this intrigued me. I’m one of those folks who does not have a land line, preferring to use my cell for everything (and am impatiently waiting for the iPhone). Still, I much prefer talking to the sort of communication I remember with text based chat tools.
It was certainly simple enough to download and install Skype on my iMac. I tried the volume test and everything seemed to work, so I decided I’d give it a try. Being a bit obsessive, as I am, I even signed up for the their North American special so that I could call actual phones from my computer. I have not yet seen the merit of allowing incoming calls from regular phones. Outgoing calls do cost a bit, but $14.95 for a year didn’t seem excessive.
I also picked up a USB headset while I was out last night as using the built-in microphone on my iMac was acceptable, but prone to pick up other noises, like my TV. Then came the big test…
I called my friend Dan (see link in sidebar) at home on his phone and it worked. Indeed the sound quality was better than I’m used to on my cell and I think that is pretty good in general. I was fairly impressed. Indeed I was impressed enough to put the link you can see in the sidebar up in hopes of getting to use it more. For now, if you are a Skype user feel free to ring me up if I’m available. I can’t promise scintillating conversation, but then I don’t promise that in person either.
Dan was impressed enough he claims to have downloaded the application and is rooting around for his USB headset so we can chat more often. I was at his place the other day showing off my newly acquired Photoshop skill (few and far between I might add) and when I got home there was already an email message asking about something. I’m thinking that this might a be very good opportunity for Skype use.
A couple of questions remain. Will I use it? Will I get sick of using it? Only time will tell…
Slower, cheaper, less useful…