New Age Communication: Skype, AIM
If you've spent enough time on the internet then you have definitly heard of AIM(Aol Instant Messenger). Any instant message program can be downloaded for free and used to converse with people in real time. It's kind of like email, but you don't have to wait for an answer and you can have more of a conversation because it is live. AIM is by far the most popular of the programs, but companies like MSN and Yahoo are gaining ground.
Instant Messengers have exploded to incorporate all forms of communication. AIM is now offering Voice chat through microphone and Video chat through a web cam. Even with all of these added features I would guess correctly that the majority of the people on my campus only use the text version of AIM either because it requires the least amount of work or because voice and video chatting requires constant attention where with text you can multitask in addition to text messaging.
Features and customization are now the competing factors for Instant Messengers. Icons displaying whatever the user wants are used for personalization and wallpaper as well. Sounds can be set to notify other users when they sign on. In terms of customization companies are combining email, satellite radio, and even phone service into instant messengers.
Skype is a voice over I.P. service that utilizes an internet connection to make and recieve regular phone calls. For a fee relatively smller than that of a normal phone company you can recieve a normal phone number and send or recieve calls to landlines and cellphones. Even better calls to other Skype users is free, so if you convince your friends to sign up you can make free calls to them. Skype is still in beta so 911 service is not availiable, but it hopefully will be soon. The program also acts as a regular instant messenger(for free) with voice and camera capabilities and also recognizes popular instant message programs so you can recieve instant messages from people with other programs.
I soon hope that companies like Skype(owned by Ebay) will soon offer 911 service in order to provide an alternative to normal phone service. I always look forward to things like this because I believe these companies overcharge significantly and Skype is very cheap. People will also be able to utilize wireless phones that I discussed in my wireless article.
Thats all for now. More info on this subject will be on my website. Next time i'll be talking about an interesting company offering free stuff.
Instant Messengers have exploded to incorporate all forms of communication. AIM is now offering Voice chat through microphone and Video chat through a web cam. Even with all of these added features I would guess correctly that the majority of the people on my campus only use the text version of AIM either because it requires the least amount of work or because voice and video chatting requires constant attention where with text you can multitask in addition to text messaging.
Features and customization are now the competing factors for Instant Messengers. Icons displaying whatever the user wants are used for personalization and wallpaper as well. Sounds can be set to notify other users when they sign on. In terms of customization companies are combining email, satellite radio, and even phone service into instant messengers.
Skype is a voice over I.P. service that utilizes an internet connection to make and recieve regular phone calls. For a fee relatively smller than that of a normal phone company you can recieve a normal phone number and send or recieve calls to landlines and cellphones. Even better calls to other Skype users is free, so if you convince your friends to sign up you can make free calls to them. Skype is still in beta so 911 service is not availiable, but it hopefully will be soon. The program also acts as a regular instant messenger(for free) with voice and camera capabilities and also recognizes popular instant message programs so you can recieve instant messages from people with other programs.
I soon hope that companies like Skype(owned by Ebay) will soon offer 911 service in order to provide an alternative to normal phone service. I always look forward to things like this because I believe these companies overcharge significantly and Skype is very cheap. People will also be able to utilize wireless phones that I discussed in my wireless article.
Thats all for now. More info on this subject will be on my website. Next time i'll be talking about an interesting company offering free stuff.
posted by Josh at 7:11 PM
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