Freeware

Skype: An Easier Way to Communicate

By EAN ⋅ August 2, 2007 ⋅  Email this Post ⋅  Print this Post ⋅ Post a Comment

(Current) Developer: Skype Limited
Version: 3.2.0.175 (Windows), 2.6.0.151 (OSX), 1.4.0.74 (Linux)
Download it Here.

During my first couple years of college, I was a complete AIM junkie. Judging by some of my grades, I probably chatted with my friends way more than I should have - but that’s beside the point. In any event, I love a good, free way to get in touch with my friends and family when they’re not around, and instant messaging was perfect for that at the time. But then came something new, something that was completely different from what AIM, MSN (Windows Live Messenger), and Yahoo were offering at the time. Skype was born - and I was instantly hooked.

As cool and unique as Skype was, though, I quickly found that there was one big problem. All of my close friends and family were stuck in their ways, not willing to try out anything new. If they were using AIM, they wanted to keep using AIM. If they were MSN junkies, that’s the way they stayed. Try as I might, I could only convince a couple of my buddies, my girlfriend, and my parents to actually give Skype a go. Needless to say, once they finally tried it, they abandoned their old programs almost overnight.

But enough backstory for one post. Skype is an impressive program that I use at least a few times a week. Because it’s free to talk over the computer from one Skype to another, it’s the perfect tool for chatting with people who live long distance - especially during the day when I can quickly erode my cellular minutes or when long distance land line calls are at their peak costliness. If anything, Skype is a great way to save a few bucks on phone calls. It’s just a shame that Verizon continues to nickel and dime me for DSL costs.

As if saving money was not reason enough alone for me to love Skype, the developers have also thrown in quite a few fun features. For starters, the interface is stylish and attractive. And, although this is completely superficial, the icon is actually appealing to the eyes. The user interface is easy to use and highly responsive. A bit too responsive sometimes, though. I tend to click on a name in an attempt to start a textual chat session when, out of the blue, I’m suddenly calling (or is that Skyping) a person.

The other cool thing about Skype that really separates it from so many other computer communication programs out there is the video chat. Sure, it’s a complete gimmick - but it’s always a blast to talk to people for free as though they are actually in the same room as you. I know there are at least a couple of other programs, like iChat and Trillian, that support voice and video technology, but iChat is only for Mac users and, last time I checked, Trillian only supports video if you pay for an upgrade.

So there you have it, a few good reasons why Skype really is such a great program for online communication. And there is so much more that I didn’t even cover here. Like hooking up a Skype enabled phone for all of your phone calls. And cheap, pay-for calling where you can use Skpye to call land lines and cell phones. The list just goes on and on. Oh, and did I mention that it’s multi-platform, so you can use it on any operating system (including Pocket PCs)?

Try Skype for yourself.

- Eric Norton