One of my former students with whom I have kept in close touch by way of email and Face Book (and who now resides in Vietnam) wants to know what my Skype Username is.
I know that one of my old mates on FOF is also a Skyper and has asked me to hook up but I just can't bring myself to do it. It seems so unnatural and staged to me.
Am I being a Luddite – should I use Skype? Am I missing out on anything worthwhile? And how many of you are on Skype and how often do you use it?
It could be that Skype is tripe and if so I won't feel so bad about not wishing to have it.
Thank you
My older son's best friend has recently emigrated to Australia and they keep in touch via Skype, which I believe is free and thus saves a lot in telephone bills. They have to be at their respective computers to speak, so less flexible than if they used mobiles, but really not much different from speaking to each other via conventional 'phones in their own homes.
I use it for personal and business calls. The reception is good but it does depend on your broadband speed. You will get a lot of 'junk' though - in particular approaches from east european women looking for partners. Like anything free, there's always a price!
Quote from: Oakeshott on July 11, 2010, 06:47:56 AM
My older son's best friend has recently emigrated to Australia and they keep in touch via Skype, which I believe is free and thus saves a lot in telephone bills. They have to be at their respective computers to speak, so less flexible than if they used mobiles, but really not much different from speaking to each other via conventional 'phones in their own homes.
My student has just emailed again to say that he rarely uses the camera but just has it for voice and text. I didn't understand that. I thought the whole purpose of it was to see each other on a screen. Shows what I know.
I have always thought it was tripe I must admit i've never used it but the mobile phone network 3g kept ringing me up and trying to get me to sign up but seen as the service I paid them for was sh1t I could only imagine the free service was even worse
Buy yourself a cheap headset and get signed up CH if you've got decent broad band speed. It can break up occasionally but overall the sound quality is better than phone. We use it all the time when contacting our overseas offices and best of all it's free. As above it's not as instinctive as a phone but you can get a cheap walkabout phone set which means you don't even have to be at your computer.
We use it at work, and because we are an international company we can call or video conference call any employee in the world when they are on their computers. It also has a instant massage service as well.
Try it, it does work well and could save you a fortune in international calls. As a company we are upgrading to I phone 4 so we can video Skype for free, using the phones as well. :045:
Blingo uses it also :dft012:
Quote from: watfordwhite on July 11, 2010, 08:07:41 AM
It also has a instant massage service as well.
Blimey.
The wonders of technology.
Quote from: TonyGilroy on July 11, 2010, 09:09:01 AM
Quote from: watfordwhite on July 11, 2010, 08:07:41 AM
It also has a instant massage service as well.
Blimey.
The wonders of technology.
I must admit that good old massage appeals to me
What the bloody hell is skype?
My wife and I have been using it for a couple of years. It's very handy for both of us for keeping in touch with family and friends.
Just go to:
www.skype.com (http://www.skype.com)
to download the free software.
I've used Skype and, as mentioned above, it's free, so don't expect the exact same quality as a fully paid for service. Saying that, the quality is still very good, and with the tele-conferencing availability, it makes it worthwhile to use.
Not sure if it's available world-wide yet, but Google Voice (https://www.google.com/accounts/ServiceLogin?service=grandcentral&passive=1209600&continue=https://www.google.com/voice&followup=https://www.google.com/voice<mpl=open) is also a great service. This is (currently) free state-to-state (US) and very low cost international calling (2 cpm for US-UK). Unlike Skype though, it uses your current handsets, by calling your own phone and then dialing the other number. Useful in the office for international calls from my cell phone, as all the details are entered online and then it calls me.
Nothing wrong with being a Luddite Mr. CH. The more that I hear about the next great technical advance that comes totally free, but then requires that; 1. You need to accept that all the hundreds of quid's worth of equipment you have gathered up until now is worthless, and should be taken to the municipal dump without the slightest delay, and; 2. You only find out later that the new free system requires another five hundred quid's worth of hardware to make it work properly.....makes me think that any more technical advances will tip me over the edge, and I'll don a bandanna, and go down to the woods and live in a brushwood camp.
...in the meantime, I've got to prepare for the cup final. I need to juggle three zappers to get the picture, and I can only see two. I wonder if the third has slipped down the back of the sofa.....?
I am an avid fan of skype, even though I use the previous version (3.8). It is ideal to chat, send documents/pictures and equally to phone with one another for free. It is an extremely easy set-up and I never encountered problems with it. I must say that skype is on daily in my case and I use it very often (even just to ask the Mrs. how her day is going or to invite a colleague to a smoke break). The latest version is very much focussed on video chat, that's why I don't use it. You can download the 3.8 version (less focussing on video chat but more on telephone calls/chat) here:
http://www.oldapps.com/skype.php (http://www.oldapps.com/skype.php)
(it is a legit website, I cecked)
