We have all been exposed to some science fiction vision of the future that promises us the ability to pop up a video screen and speak effortlessly towards it as if we were having a face-to-face discussion. Usually, this future reality is accompanied by autonomous robots and flying cars. I had to ask myself, are we really that far away from this future that we have envisioned for ourselves?
So, today I installed Skype onto my computer for the third time. If you are not up to speed on Skype, it's essentially a souped up Instant Messenger. It's souped up because it allows you to also place free "phone" calls to other Skype users. Or, if you feel so inclined, you can pay a bit extra and place real "phone" calls to landlines. But, where Skype differs most from your standard home phone is that if you have a web cam attached to your computer, you can also place video calls to other Skype users.
It is this function that has brought me back to Skype for the third time. You see, the first time I installed Skype, no one was using the program. Well, I shouldn't say "no one." There were the few colleagues of mine that forced Skype down my throat so that our businesses could save some money making calls from state to state or from country to country. That was fine and dandy, but the process of making sure that the party I wanted to call, was "available" in the first place often meant that I needed to call their land line or cell phone first to tell them to boot up Skype, so that I could avoid the very thing that I was doing at that moment. This process grew old, as did my colleagues, so we all eventually parted ways. My colleagues, and Skype.
The second time that I installed Skype (a few years ago), was to attempt video calling with my brother in Maryland. The fact of the matter was that our Internet connections sucked. Our cameras were worse and we spent most of our time cursing because we couldn't see or hear each other.
Today however, was different. After setting everything up, and purchasing a Microsoft LifeCam Cinema HD web cam I received my first incoming video call from my parents. They popped up on the screen, the resolution was great. They sounded phenomenal. It was amazing! Everything actually worked the way it was supposed to. The third time really is the charm. I know that some will think that I'm late to the game on this, but am I really? Shortly after the call, I posted a comment on Facebook asking how many of my friends were making use of this technology. The answer, a small few. And when they do, they use it once or twice a month to communicate with distant relatives (hell, that's why I signed up).
Well, I for one am sold. At least until I lose interest, that is. For now, I'm sold though. As for autonomous robots and flying cars...we have the Roomba and really, as long as people continue to occasionally run out of gas and end up pulling off to the side of the road in automobiles, the government will never trust us with flying cars.
So, is this the future that we envisioned? Not yet. But, we're getting there.
So, today I installed Skype onto my computer for the third time. If you are not up to speed on Skype, it's essentially a souped up Instant Messenger. It's souped up because it allows you to also place free "phone" calls to other Skype users. Or, if you feel so inclined, you can pay a bit extra and place real "phone" calls to landlines. But, where Skype differs most from your standard home phone is that if you have a web cam attached to your computer, you can also place video calls to other Skype users.
It is this function that has brought me back to Skype for the third time. You see, the first time I installed Skype, no one was using the program. Well, I shouldn't say "no one." There were the few colleagues of mine that forced Skype down my throat so that our businesses could save some money making calls from state to state or from country to country. That was fine and dandy, but the process of making sure that the party I wanted to call, was "available" in the first place often meant that I needed to call their land line or cell phone first to tell them to boot up Skype, so that I could avoid the very thing that I was doing at that moment. This process grew old, as did my colleagues, so we all eventually parted ways. My colleagues, and Skype.
The second time that I installed Skype (a few years ago), was to attempt video calling with my brother in Maryland. The fact of the matter was that our Internet connections sucked. Our cameras were worse and we spent most of our time cursing because we couldn't see or hear each other.
Today however, was different. After setting everything up, and purchasing a Microsoft LifeCam Cinema HD web cam I received my first incoming video call from my parents. They popped up on the screen, the resolution was great. They sounded phenomenal. It was amazing! Everything actually worked the way it was supposed to. The third time really is the charm. I know that some will think that I'm late to the game on this, but am I really? Shortly after the call, I posted a comment on Facebook asking how many of my friends were making use of this technology. The answer, a small few. And when they do, they use it once or twice a month to communicate with distant relatives (hell, that's why I signed up).
Well, I for one am sold. At least until I lose interest, that is. For now, I'm sold though. As for autonomous robots and flying cars...we have the Roomba and really, as long as people continue to occasionally run out of gas and end up pulling off to the side of the road in automobiles, the government will never trust us with flying cars.
So, is this the future that we envisioned? Not yet. But, we're getting there.
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