I really hate talking on the phone. It makes me incredibly nervous to pick up the phone and call someone. Something about a disembodied voice makes me uncomfortable. A voice without a face attached is only semi-human. Phones though have become so ubiquitous that we scoff at those with only a home phone.
Yeah – I have a home phone, but I don’t know the number. I mean it. I didn’t learn it, don’t use it, and don’t share it. I only remember it is there because the caller id flashes up on the television screen from time to time because it is part of the package with cable and internet. It is one of those wacky promotions where you have to get something you don’t want to get what you want at a really low price.
Skype came about in somewhat the same way for me. I needed a way to do a conference call with a technical support person and wanted my staff to be able to hear the responses and ask questions. Since there was no phone in the room and wireless Internet, I decided to check out skype and see if it would work.
This is what phones are supposed to be!
I don’t have to hold it, there is the possibility of video calling (though I have not tried it), and I can do normal other things while talking with someone and am not concerned with holding anything in my hand.
I think my real problem with a “phone” is that I have to handle it, hold it, and it limits what I can be doing while I’m also talking. With skype, as long as the microphone can pick up my voice and the speakers are loud enough for me to hear, I can use it.
Now I am trying to track down all my friends with skype to add them to the address book.
So….skype me at “roylarson” or 15126860394
