I used to use SKYPE a lot; spending hours talking to my friends. I used to talk to one of my friends in Qatar, who is a patron of BC, and another who lives in Saudia, plus several people here in the US. Then the service overseas, began to gradually deteriorate, and then the finally in the states. It got so I kept it on and mostly talked only to those who called me on it, if the service was working that day.
Several Days ago, I got a bill from them to renew and gave them my debit card number and thought it was done. Well, somewhere in the system, my card was declined and I after I finally managed to have an email exchange with them, they suggested I use another card, which I have none. I had a bad experience with paypal, so will not use them.
So, I am prepared to just let the account close. I have recently heard that they have a software dispute with their parent company, and it did not sound good for them. For my friends who want to talk to me on line, I have Windows Messenger, Google, and something that facebook has.
Gwen
Comments
Skype is free on a computer to computer basis
I've been using Skype without paying for it to chat with other folks computer to computer for over two years now. You only need a Skype paid account to use some of their for-pay features.
Bob Arnold
If not for Skype, I'd be dead
No exaggeration. It's my connection to my reason for living (who is on the other side of the planet, in Australia).
Skype, eBay, and the Big Bad Wolf....
As Bob mentioned, and Edeyn too, Skype is free for Skype to Skype calls. You only need to pay them if you want to call LandLine or CellPhones and/or want LandLines/CellPhones to be able to call you...
And on a side note, the software dispute you mentioned was settled. It wasn't a dispute with their parent company (eBay), it was a dispute between eBay, the new investors and the original designers of the program that still owned parts of the technology. As it is now, eBay has announced plans to spin Skype off into it's own company which is getting mixed reviews...
-P/KAF/PT
Skype works just fine ...
... for me. I replaced my landline with it. Sometimes people say the outgoing audio is poor quality, but it never happened to me. Sometimes there are interruptions, but I can live with that.
Skype is about 10% of the cost of toll calls in the country you're in, and about 1/10th the price of international calls. Also, since skype operates on gateways in the destination country, I can be used to to directly call numbers like UK Lo-Call or US WATS, Freecall, etc numbers, that would not be reachable from a normal landline at all, or only at toll charges.
Those are massive advantages for someone who, like me, speaks to people in 3-4 different countries in the course of a normal day.
The right tool for the job, I say.
Skype is multiplatform, since I refuse to use Microsoft products, that is a plus for me.
Melanie
Skype
ALISON
I use Skype to talk to my two younger brothers who live about 3,000 kilometers
south of me here 'Down Under' and we are today setting up Webcams so we can talk face to face and I am doing the same for the grand kids.Brilliant!
ALISON
Downside to Skype
I don't use Skype, for the reason I give below. My eldest son, the one who likes to roam the world, does in order to keep in touch with his mates, so I installed a client on the one Windows computer I still had at the time - there was no Linux client then. This would have been a good few years back, I don't remember exactly when.
It worked - once I'd figured out how to set it up properly, and to get my webcam functioning. I called him a couple of times at the office in Sweden where he was working at the time.
Then I noticed that my firewall was getting a huge number of extra hits. I belatedly realised that this was all down to me activating Skype on my network.
See, Skype is peer-to-peer. This means that each user of Skype acts like a local directory and exchange to enable users to connect to one another without using a central server. Oh, there is one (or more), but I think they mainly supply addresses from which one can get into the peer-to-peer network.
Only problem is, over 90% of these accesses were from addresses in China. I decided I didn't like the implications of that, and cancelled my account.
If you're like me, and your cable company or other ISP gives you an IP address which doesn't change that often, you will get all this traffic hitting your system whether you're using Skype or not. Once your address gets into their system it will never leave. More than five years after I cancelled my Skype account I'm still getting probes on ports I know are used by Skype.
In addition, Skype is a secretive, encrypted and obfuscated program which basically ignores any firewall you may have set up. There are many threads on the internet describing the frustration people - and companies - have had trying to keep Skype out of their systems. Because it's secretive, it's impossible to know what is happening inside of the program. That means that you have no idea if someone else has found a bug or hole in it and is using it to exploit your system. No thanks.
Of course, if Skype works for you, and you're happy allowing your computer (and your bandwidth) being used by complete strangers without any benefit to you, then by all means use it. I prefer to retain at least the illusion of control over equipment I own.
Penny
My computer as memory for skype.
Well, you sure dazzled me with technical talk! LOL
If I remember correctly, I think there was something in the agreement that said they could use my computer to do certain things when I was not on it.
I was actually running skype on a tiny Eee PC, and was in the habit of just letting it sit there open when I was not using it. Well, it has a little camera in the lid that I did not know about for a long time. Hmmmm I wonder when my naked sex video will hit the internet?
I had forgotten that it was free. I think I have been paying for a dedicated phone line and free Canada calling?
Well, so maybe I will have it for just a bit. I notice that people call me on something else that is not skype and they have video
gwen
skype
Major plus for skype now is that you can use it on your verizon android phones to call anyone and not use any minutes on your cellphone.
Hugs,
Jenna From FL
Moderator/Editor
TopShelf BigCloset
Hugs,
Jenna From FL
Moderator/Editor
TopShelf BigCloset
It is a long road ahead but I will finally become who I should be.
Skype Mobile...
There have been Windows Mobile and iPhone clients for a while too :)
-P/KAF/PT