Skype?

[steuard]

My mother really, really loves Skype. That's really caught me off guard, because for some reason I've never been very excited by it. So I want to know: do any of you folks use Skype regularly? And can anyone suggest why I might be more hesitant about Skype than I generally am about nifty-sounding new technologies? ('Cause thus far, I haven't come up with any plausible explanation.)

My mother has good reason to like Skype: it was a cheap way to keep in touch with my sister when she was studying abroad in Sweden (and she still uses it to talk with some European friends), and she adores having video conversations with her recent step-grandchild on the East Coast.

Meanwhile, I've used Skype exactly once (to talk to my mother, not coincidentally). It seems like a perfectly serviceable video phone program, which I always thought was one of those pieces of The Future that I was eager to see... so why am I resisting it instead of embracing it? I'll admit to feeling a bit confused (and therefore wary) about their business model, but I'm much less resistant to using instant messaging programs despite similar issues. I'm also reluctant to video chat when I'm "not presentable": on a normal phone, nobody knows that you're still in your pajamas. But that doesn't explain why I'm still not excited about it the rest of the time.

I suspect that (for example) Kim and I would have loved Skype when we were living far apart after college: seeing each others' faces more often would have been wonderful. So why haven't I leapt at the chance to have that same extra closeness with family and friends today?

Comments

[nasu-dengaku.livejournal.com]

Skype was fantastic for international travel -- With video I could see friends back in the US when I was feeling lonely, and I could give them tours of faraway places by walking around with the laptop.

[steuard.livejournal.com]

So, do you still use it today? With whom, or why not?

[nasu-dengaku.livejournal.com]

Now that I'm back in the same country as the majority of my friends, I use it a lot less. Domestic use has included

- Talking to friends out of the country
- Cheap videoconferencing for work related purposes
- Calling my cellphone when I can't tell where in the house I've left it :-)