All Skyped Up

It had been a couple of years since I had used the Skype interface and I remember the video and audio being delayed and a little hurky-jerky.  Who knows whether that was a unique situation or perhaps SW related issue, a HW related issue, or even a bandwidth issue.  Whatever the hiccup, Skype seems to have made some strides as there was a marked difference when I fired up Skype and talked at ease with my bro' halfway across the world.

There was very little delay and although the video quality might not be good enough to go create a HD movie, it was plenty good enough to provide a good visual of who was on the other end of the video-call. It really got me to thinking back when I was younger in Portugal and we had to go to the Post Office or specific cafe's to make calls (international calls had to be made from the Post Office).  It is pretty crazy to think that technology has evolved so much that we have gone from scratchy noisy land lines with delays in voice transmissions to wireless technology that provides almost real-time video interfacing...what is next?  something that anticipates our conversation and thoughts?

It is a not-so-subtle-reminder of just how the years are cruising by and that relaying that archaic visual of standing in a telephone booth in order to make a phone call (and rotary phones to add extra confusion)  to our younger wireless generation would be like someone trying to explain wind up cranks on cars to me....although it might not be a Flintstones moment, it appears that I am now old enough to reference the 'remember when' moments!

ohh yeah - and the best part of Skype?  it is FREE!  big shout out to Skype!