Managed to finally use Skype this morning to call someone who’s not on Skype. I shelled out the 10 pounds (British) and called my folks up North.
At 2 cents a minute, it’s a bargain. My mom had a little trouble hearing me, but she always does. I had to stop in the middle of the first call to check on Camille who was engaged with the bucket.
I called back, and the line had degraded. But it sounded about the same as when I used a land-based line (My parents and I often have a bad connection. I think it’s their phone).
The Skype service is free to folks on the Skype network. Sort of like doing an audio iChat, or whatever you PC users use for audio chats. But, you can buy minutes at Skype and call anyone in the world on a land-based line for about 2 cents a minute. Anytime.
It’s a little more if you’re calling a cell phone, but not much. And no roaming charges.
You can also pay a little more and Skype will allow folks with land-lines to call you! And you can set up your account to take messages.
The software and service works on OS X, Windows and Linux. You can even hook up a phone to your computer and it’ll ring just like the regular phone.
Phillip Torrone over at the Make Magazine blog has posted a video (kind of on the dark side) showing how he took an old pay phone and converted it to a Skype phone.
Really cool for the gadget geeks out there.