From wikiSenior

Keeping in Touch, Worldwide

Whether you have a daughter traveling around the globe, a son and his family living on the opposite coast, or a longtime friend in another city that loves a long chat, Skype is a service that you should consider. Last night, we talked to our daughter in South America, and it was great the hear her voice. Of course, there is always email or plain, old long distance, but Skype is a new alternative.

With Skype, you are talking through an Internet connection from one computer to another. The advantages -

• The price (free) is right for everyone’s budget.
• If you have a video camera, you can even see the people at the other end on your computer screen, and
• It is extremely easy to use.

Slight disadvantages that were noticed -

• There is a greater delay than the regular phone in the switchover between speaking and listening, but you seem to quickly adapt to the rhythm of the conversation.
• You need to have a microphone and headset to plug into the computer. You can purchase a reasonable headset pair together with a video camera for about $40.

The wonder is that it works as well as it does. For the free service, you both have to be at the computer at the same time. We found that it was reasonably easy to schedule a call ahead of time via email. (There is also a method to place a call from the computer directly to a telephone, but there is a slight charge for that service. That helped whenever it was necessary to arrange a call on short notice.)

To use Skype, the technical requirements are -

• a PC with 400 MHz processor, 128 MB RAM, 10 MB free disk space, a sound card, and Windows 2000, XP, or Vista, or Linux,
• a Mac G4 800 Mhz and above, any G5 or any Intel processor, 512MB RAM, 40 MB free disk space, and OS X v10.3.9 Panther or newer,
• an Internet Connection - either dial-up: minimum 33.6 Kbps modem, or any broadband: cable or DSL (you need the broadband for the video),
• a generic microphone and speakers or headset which are widely available, even directly from the Skype Store), and
• the Skype software which you can download for free from Skype.

That is the entire deal! If you are intimidated by the technology, have one of your grandchildren set it up for you. Once it’s there, it is very easy to enjoy. You’ll love it! A the price is certainly right!