Skype....

[quadman]

All of you (well, most of you anyway) are probably well aware of the quadman's penchant for clinging to the past like the scruffy little kid in Charlie Brown movies clings to his blanky. Especially with regard to computers. I mean, dial up and AOL were the norm for years until I was finally goaded into broadband. Now, I wonder at times what the hell I was thinking. I mean, I don't have the lightening fast cable or FIOS (is that even the right term?) speeds yet, but this AT&T broadband thing is kinda cool. I mean I can actually watch a movie on line now and have even discovered what You Tube is. :p

But, thanks to the Grandad :geezer: of our forum Jack Richard (Ajax).... he's actually brought me even closer to THIS century by introducing me to Skype. He convinced me to get a webcam and to download Skype so that I can now converse with him and complain about aching joints or the travails of getting old (he IS an expert after all) over this internet thingie rather than wasting cell minutes. I mean, I even get to see his ugly face while doing so or can shut off the video and still talk to him when I've had a bad hair day.

This thing is coolio. I would highly recommend it to anyone.

[phipp01]

Congrats on getting rid of dial up LOL. My sister and nieces use Skype all the time. I have it on my laptop but never use it. Im not much of a "phone" person anyway but when webcams are only like $20 and no phone charges it is a good way to keep in touch with distant family and friends

[Ajax]

I like it because I can actually see my sister in the S.F area, my brother in Florida and my great-niece and great nephew in Phoenix. At Christmas time, the kids' parents set up the webcam, and my sister puts the picture up on the big screen TV, and watches her grandchildren open presents. Helps me be a part of their lives.

Of course, like everything, there is a down-side. Having to look at John is definitely one of them :tease 1:

[koa]

Skype is cool, we use it to talk with my daughter on the mainland at school. Next year she studies abroad in France so it will be even more important to us. I do get to see a very pretty face though, but I'm a little bias.:yes:

[dvenardos]

Wow John, look at you go. :D

[cburbs]

Yep skype is a great thing if you need to keep in touch with others across the country etc.

With us moving west recently from the midwest my parents usually want to skype once a week to see the grandkids.

I also use it to see my oldest son who stayed back home with his mom.

They also realeased a beta that allows you to skype with more than one person. I have not tried it yet but I have used other apps that allow group video chat.

http://lifehacker.com/5538352/skype-beta-adds-group-video-chat

Quad you are correct on FIOS - that is what I have but it goes along with the IT GEEK side of me. I don't have the best package from FIOS but I see no need for that and don't have the money for it.

[Spiralout]

Wait until you see what Cisco and Microsoft are doing with the concept.

They are bridging the gap between email, voicemail, IM, remote desktop, voice and video communications into one big suite. (That includes cell phones and presence information.)

The way we do business is about to change the way email changed it years ago.

[Ajax]

Well C'MON. Spill the beans. When are we gonna see this?

[Spiralout]

Well C'MON. Spill the beans. When are we gonna see this?

It's already out. But it's not a mature technology (yet), much like voice over ip phones in 2002.

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/netsol/ns151/networking_solutions_unified_communications_home.html

http://www.microsoft.com/uc/en/us/default.aspx

From my desk, Cisco integrates better with your Cisco VoIP Phone system, (CUCM) but Microsoft integrates better with Exchange/Outlook. I would imagine it will soon integrate with Windows.

Voicemail and network security are both current battlegrounds for the 2 800 lb gorillas, and Unified Communications' ability to neatly tie everything together will probably be the deciding factor on who becomes the leader in the entire arena.

Cisco made a very smart move in partnering with Apple. If Microsoft isn't going to play nice, neither is Cisco.

Microsoft is fighting Google, Apple, Cisco. IMO, Cisco really doesn't have much of a threat in their bread-n-butter competencies save Microsoft.

It's an exciting time for us networking guys. Big competition and egos help drive innovation that ends up in the consumer's hands.

[quadman]

It's already out. But it's not a mature technology (yet), much like voice over ip phones in 2002.

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/netsol/ns151/networking_solutions_unified_communications_home.html

http://www.microsoft.com/uc/en/us/default.aspx

From my desk, Cisco integrates better with your Cisco VoIP Phone system, (CUCM) but Microsoft integrates better with Exchange/Outlook. I would imagine it will soon integrate with Windows.

Voicemail and network security are both current battlegrounds for the 2 800 lb gorillas, and Unified Communications' ability to neatly tie everything together will probably be the deciding factor on who becomes the leader in the entire arena.

Cisco made a very smart move in partnering with Apple. If Microsoft isn't going to play nice, neither is Cisco.

Microsoft is fighting Google, Apple, Cisco. IMO, Cisco really doesn't have much of a threat in their bread-n-butter competencies save Microsoft.

It's an exciting time for us networking guys. Big competition and egos help drive innovation that ends up in the consumer's hands.

Well, ONE thing is for sure.... the quadman will be up to date with this stuff in about umm.... ten or fifteen years give or take. :ufo:

[django1]

Well, ONE thing is for sure.... the quadman will be up to date with this stuff in about umm.... ten or fifteen years give or take. :ufo:

You know psychologists have a name for people who refer to themselves in the third person :assshake:...

[tthurman]

“Jimmy’s got the hot’s for you!”
“Look who took the bread out of Jimmy’s mouth!”
“Jimmys going into shock!”
“Hand’s off Jimmy! Everyone, Don’t touch Jimmy!”

Top-30-seinfeld-characters

This immediately popped in my head when I read your post!

[koa]

Here's an idea which we just did that was a success and pretty cool.

Today is my daughter's 20th birthday and the first one that we are not together.

We made a cake and decorated it, including candles. Skyped my daughter. Sang Happy Birthday, moved the cake into view with the candles lit. Told her to make a wish and blow out the candles. When she blew on the candles, the candles all blew out.

I had set up a fan out of view and had a switch by my chair to turn on the fan when she blew out the candles. Corny, but very cool for her.