I might be among the last few geeks on Earth who hasn't really given Skype a try. A few versions back I played with it (and my cheap, free Dell-provided microphone) and was unimpressed, but in the months since, they've clearly made inroads.
Described as "free Internet telephony that just works," Skype is not the first phone-over-internet program, but today it's definitely among the most popular. Smartly working with both Windows and Macintosh PCs, as well as Linux, Pocket PC devices and soon PalmOS too, it lets you talk to someone in Mongolia as easily as someone down the street. And it's free. Money comes up only if you want to call a regular phone (about two cents per minute for many countries, including the U.S.).
And to solve the cheap hardware problem, they're almost singlehandedly creating a market for things like USB telephones. Plug it into your PC, and it's like any other phone in your house.
The latest version has even added basic Instant Messaging features, and given its wide adoption, makes me wonder if we'll soon have another IM standard to track (alongside AIM, Y!Messenger, ICQ and MSN).
Anyone else using it?
Described as "free Internet telephony that just works," Skype is not the first phone-over-internet program, but today it's definitely among the most popular. Smartly working with both Windows and Macintosh PCs, as well as Linux, Pocket PC devices and soon PalmOS too, it lets you talk to someone in Mongolia as easily as someone down the street. And it's free. Money comes up only if you want to call a regular phone (about two cents per minute for many countries, including the U.S.).
And to solve the cheap hardware problem, they're almost singlehandedly creating a market for things like USB telephones. Plug it into your PC, and it's like any other phone in your house.
The latest version has even added basic Instant Messaging features, and given its wide adoption, makes me wonder if we'll soon have another IM standard to track (alongside AIM, Y!Messenger, ICQ and MSN).
Anyone else using it?
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