Friday, February 06, 2009

Skype is for chat

There's a CNN show on, and the host is asking people to leave feedback, via Skype.

I keep telling people that Skype at this point is mostly useful as a chat protocol, not a voice communication service.

(CNN also read out twitter messages. Sigh.)

7 comments:

AndresS said...

Disagree a bit. Skype most useful feature is not IM or voice, it's video. Nothing amazes my 80+ year old grandparents more than seeing me while talking from half way around the world.

Alex said...

Disagree a lot. I use Skype exclusively for all my calls abroad. Use it regularly to keep in touch with friends and conduct business. I've tried it's chat feature, but rarely use it. I really like how I can have a local phone number in different countries so friends and family don't have to pay long distance rates to call me (the Skypeless ones) and I get free voicemail to boot!

Giustino said...

I use Skype for all my business calls. And my 90 year old Grandma was amazed as well.

Dasanjos said...

I Disagree agreeing!
Skype for some is mostly usefull as IM. For others, for calling land lines. For others, for video calls between computers.
There are many competitors in its trail (even Google with Gmail video calls), but still Skype remains a good choice.

GF said...

I agree. Skype is mostly an IM tool. It doesnt mean I never use any other funtionnality but for instance the quality of the calls is often poor. For voice communication I get better results with MSN. So yes, Skype is for chat

Hansken said...

My whole relationship with my German girlfriend (who lives in Germany, I live in Estonia as of now) relies on Skype calls. For almost two years now. So I'd say it is 'mostly useful' for me. Very much so!

Hence, uttlerly nonsense post from AnTyx - of course everybody has their own uses, usabilities and preferences for communications tools. I am happy with Skype.

Kristopher said...

I use Skype chat a lot more than I do telephony because I don't always have my game voice/face on. Plus for work, it's better to have a written record. Voice works fine for me, video works fine at home, but over other networks the amount of bandwidth can be a bit potluck.

I have even bought Amtrak tickets via Skype voice.

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