A New Way of Connecting

The other day I was at my house doing laundry catching up with my mom and little sister when I heard a really strange noise coming from the other room. At first I thought it might be my cell phone but I checked and it was on silent. I asked my sister, where is that coming from. She said, "Oh, the office. It's the computer." It was very strange, our computer was ringing, and I couldn't figure out why. Finally, realizing just how slowely I was putting this all together, my sister told me that my Dad put this new program called Skype on our computer. I had no idea what it was until recently when I remembered a conversation me and my dad had. So I looked at the computer and clicked on the my the picture of my Dad's face that had popped up on the monitor, letting us know it was him who was 'calling.' Almost instantly I heard his voice and the voices of several other people in the background greeting me. Sure, it wasn't perfect reception and I had to ask my dad to repeat himself several times, but we were able to have a conversation on the computer. I could hear his voice and he could hear mine, just like a phone. For some reason, I was fascinated!

My dad works in the music industry and tours alot all over the world. He travels for months at a time and it is always difficult to get ahold of him because of time differences and the cost of international calls. He is also from England and we have a large number of family members there we talk to about once a month, once again, because of the cost for both ends. However, Skype is telephone on the internet and its free and it is international. As long as you have a computer and have downloaded the program and the computer you are communicating with has done the same, you can speak into a microphone and have a regular conversation anytime day or night. Me, being the technological know-it-all that I am, was amazed. We can now talk to my grandfather, uncle, and cousin in England anytime we want for no cost, and we don't have to go weeks without talking to my dad when he is a way.

Maybe my fascination with this is just because I am so out of the loop most of the time when it comes to the latest technology trends, but I just thought this was such a great example of technology making communication easier in more ways than one. Connecting people across the globe. I know that it has brought our family closer in just a matter of weeks without worrying about costs or whos turn is it to call who. Anytime we want to talk to my grandfather we just hop on the computer and turn on the mic. It brings a whole element to communication. It proves that technology can connect people despite place and even economic status.

A service like this could do so many great things for so many people. I think technology should be used more in this way. It should not be just for those people who can afford it, it should aid those people who cannot. Staying in touch with family members should not come with a price tag or limitations, neither should services such as these. I think as technology becomes more advanced and prevelent (more and more people have access to computers everyday, for example) we will see it becoming more helpful throughout all communities in the world. I think it's going to start doing many more 'good deeds' if that's the right way to phrase it. Everyone will have a chance to take advantage of it and more and more people will benefit from it no matter what.