SkypeOut

As I blogged a while back, Skype was finally released for Mac. It's a pretty cool service that lets me chat with other Skype-using friends around the world for free. And, while that's great and all, today I discovered the real power of Skype: SkypeOut. This incredible feature allows you to make calls to actual telephones in several countries around the world for just .02 a minute!!

So, while it used to be very easy to rack up hundreds of dollars in International calls if you weren't careful, now calling home is cheaper than sending a postcard! The strange part is that the quality of the connection is better than using the telephone... even with the crappy little microphone that's in my laptop. I placed a half-dozen calls, and every time the connection was crystal clear.

Incredible.

I still think Apple's iChat's video conferencing is a better way to keep in touch (being able to see the person you are talking to adds a lot to the conversation) but, if the person you're contacting doesn't have a computer, SkypeOut is an astoundingly good alternative (not to mention really cheap!).

Comments

what's your skype user id?

Posted by kazza on September 17, 2004

   

That would be "blogography" (believe it or not!).

Posted by Dave2 on September 17, 2004

   

I'm sure that was one the things I searched on last night, as well as your name and city, and I still couldn't find you. Oh well :)

Posted by kazza on September 17, 2004

   

I'm not sure how the directory works, but I've run into the same problem in both searching for people and having people find me. Perhaps the Mac beta program is buggy and doesn't "stick" when you enter your information? I have found that when I am online and other people "force" a connection to me, then I can be added.

Posted by Dave2 on September 17, 2004

   

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