I’m about 15 years too old to be a true child of the internet generation, (I remember when the Spectrum 48k was the height of cool) but I’m a fast learner. Being an avid fan of anything new, by the age of 17 I was chatting away on ICQ under the moniker wildcat (not the cleverest pseudonym in light of the many dodgy people surfing the chat lines).
It took another ten years for me to get my own home computer, but when I did, the world suddenly expanded. With my mother in England, my father in Dubai and my sister in the States, email was a lifesaver. But despite constant communication across the ether, nothing beat the personal touch of the Sunday evening telephone calls. Which is why I joined MSN messenger almost as soon as it started. The early days were all about typing badly spelled messages to my sister: wahts up wiht you met anoyne yet? But it still wasn’t the same as being able to speak in person – there’s so much in the voice that is lost in text. Then came the realisation that we could actually talk over the internet, and it would cost absolutely nothing.
These days, land lines are becoming obsolete. When almost every household has a computer, international calls can be made for free through the wonders of the internet. There are a few parameters: internet phone calls only work with high speed broadband connections; both parties have to be online at the same time; the odd word often gets lost in the ether and occasionally you just get cut off. But generally, the savings are worth the hassle. Headsets are a must, and there are even internet phones for those who prefer less of the Trekkie look. And web cameras are fairly cheap, if you have a good connection and are not a slave to your vanity; just bear in mind that both people must have access!
Nowadays, there are lots of VOIP services that offer free or reduced calls. VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol, and these services allow you to make phone calls using either your regular phone (e.g. Vonage and SunRocket) or a computer headset with a microphone (e.g. Skype, MSN). As opposed to a traditional landline, when you use your phone or computer to call a number, the call is sent over the internet instead of over copper wires running out of your house.
My three weekly international calls each used to last roughly an hour; at a rate of about 10 cents per minute, that was a cost of over €70 per month. That’s €70 I could now spend on shoes instead! And using the internet as a telephone means I’m now able to spend far more time chatting to far-flung friends and family than ever before.
