Skype =)
MULTIMEDIA:
I will be presenting my paper through Skype. I will Skype the entire class from a differnt room and interact with each member of the class.
Boy Graduates Via Skype
Home for the holidays? You dont have to be!
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Skype: A new form of communication
As the old adage goes, “Can you hear me now?” But what if it suddenly became, “Can you see me now?” This is what the creators of the popular webcam service Skype hope to hear one day. In a society dominated by technology, new forms of communication are sprouting up everywhere. Standard phone calls are old news and almost ancient. Phone calls with only voice capabilities are slowly being replaced by video and webcam capabilities. A much more rewarding and interactive experience, Skype lets people see with whom they are communicating . People who are separated by long distances can now kiss their partners goodnight. Friends can chat about boys while showing pictures. Grandparents can see how big their grandchildren have grown. Skype connects people together using a free and reliable service base d on free calling.
1.1 History
Some history about Skype, it that is was created in 2003 by Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis. More than 140,000 new users register each day. There are over 520 million Skype users on every continent, which is a massive international calling base. (Charney). The technology that Skype uses is, VoIP, or voice over internet protocol. This is a protocol that lets one use the internet or a broadband line to double as a phone line. A useful characteristic of VoIP is that it is not situated in one geographic location such as with standard phone companies. Where there is broadband or Wireless internet, Skype is available. Therefore, Skype is not affected by bad reception or broken connection lines like standard cell phones.
Originally , Skype could only be used on Microsoft devices, but recently has developed to be used on virtually any computer with an internet connection and webcam. Iphones have also been designed to use Skype. A simple download of the application, lets anybody use Skype using their Iphone. A unique fact is that there is no cost for Skype other than creating and running a website. This makes it very cheap for the creators, and thus cheap for the users.
Skype makes money by connecting to the PSTN network- Public Switch Telephone Network. The PSTN network is a global collection of interconnected telephone adapters. It is used for standard telephone lines; it connects them together. Skype also receives money from sponsors and advertisements, but also by charging fees for certain features. For instance, you can, “pay-as-you-go” as do regular telephone services. Since Skype is only free to other Skype users, if you use the option to pay-as- you-go, you can call directly to landlines. They do not have to Skype, which may be convenient for people who wish to connect to people that may not have computers. Users can buy “skype credit”, which almost is a pre-paid way of communicating. Each phone call minute takes away a small amount of credit. With Skype Credit you can directly send text messages and set up a voicemail account. Users may also pay a monthly subscription. For only 2.95 a month, a user can have unlimited talk throughout the US and Canada. This includes landlines and also webcam chats. This is a much lower price than most people are currently playing for their bills. An average telephone bill can range from fifty to one hundred dollars! For only a few dollars more, you can make calls to certain countries. People could be saving hundreds of dollars by using Skype as their landlines!
1.2 Using Skype
Skype lets members have conversations more frequently and for a longer time. People are not only hearing the person they are talking to, but can now see them. This is useful because it creates a more intimate experience. When taking to little kids, the conversation can be short because of their attention span. Skype lets them interact with the person on the other end. They can play games, sing songs, play dress up, all by using Skype. Phone calls that once lasted five minutes, can now last for hours.
Downloading Skype is a quick and incredibly easy process. By visiting the website, www.skype.com, people can download the wonderful webcam service. There are only a few steps to follow before Skype is downloaded onto a computer. According to Five easy steps to start using skype, First, a new user must go onto www.skype.com, a nd click the download button. Shortly after, you will be prompted to allow Skype to run and install on your computer. After agree to the terms and conditions, Skype is officially downloaded to your computer. After creating a username and password, a user can create a profile-equipped with a picture and personal information. These are the only steps required for Skype to be downloaded on a computer. Once downloaded, a user must create a username and password to log in. They then can add friends by searching for them. Once added, their friends are included on their contact list. When a friend is online, their contact entry is in the color green. To talk to a friend, all you do is click on their name. A dial tone, just like a standard phone is heard until the person answers on the other end. When both parties are connected, a black screen in the middle of the page is replaced by the others face! Your face is shown in the lower left hand corner of the screen, so that you know if you are being shown or not. Talking can last for hours, as long as your computer battery doesn’t die! To end a call, all the user has to do is click the end button. It is a very easy process that can be understood by numerous people. The clarity of the video depends on the webcam being used. The only disadvantage is that a person has to be close by a computer to hear a call. Unlike a phone, it is not easy to constantly carry a computer around. In fact, most people use a standard phone to inform their friends to get onto Skype and start chatting.
About 1/3 of all call minutes carry a video signal ( Skype Journal). This is an important fact that shows exactly how much technology has affected out society. 20 years ago, VoIP technology was not even considered. Around the holidays ab out 1 in every 2 calls uses a video signal (Skype Journal). People are no longer just using telephones. The experience of seeing the person you are talking to has really impacted people and how they use web cam services. Also, the fact that most notebooks come equipped with built-in-video cameras makes Skype even more successful. People do not have to spend the extra money buying a video camera because one is already programmed into their computer. It is very hard to find a computer without a webcam already installed, and I believe this is because of the popularity of the video chat software.
Unlike other social networks such as Facebook and Myspace, most Skype users have a contact list on average of about ten contacts. Facebook users have on average about a hundred to two hundred contacts. Skype is a more intimate application; you are more likely to talk to the ten friends on Skype then all four hundred contacts on Facebook or Myspace. People add contacts on the basis that they will talk to them. On social networks where a user has hundreds of friends, they do not talk to every single person on their contact list.
Skype does not only have video chatting, but many other unique and exciting features. If someone does not have a webcam, they can still talk as if it was a standard telephone. It is free if you call a person who has Skype. Calling directly to a landline is another option, but will cost a small amount of money. Instant Messaging, or IM, is also a feature that Skype utilizes. Almost like texting, it allows two or more people to type messages back and forth to each other. If you go to the website, www. Extra.skype.com, you are able to access even more features such as whiteboard tools, translators, and games. S kype can only move forward and become more advanced in its new and unique features.
Users of Skype each have different opinions about their experiences with Skype. For instance according to JimmieBoy, “You will not go wrong by installing and using Skype. I call friends in Denmark, United Kingdom, India and central China. Amazingly CLEAR with no lost connections. I also use their “Skype out service” and blown away with it’s clarity. If you could ever imagine calling by way of undersea cable back in the 70’s, now this…what are you waiting for? Get connected. No, I am not a Skype employee…just a very SATISFIED customer.” Most people are extremely happy with the services that Skype provides but some are more critical. According to Sunnymuroan, “I mainly use for cheap PC2Landline calls. Delays are 2-3 seconds on calls due to routing and I can say that the sound is inconsistent. Sometimes I had to call and hung up for 3-4 times before the other party can hear me! Can be improve but if u really needs a clear call, advise u better avoid this.” Standard telephones drop calls, and so does Skype. Everything can not be perfect and satisfy everyone, so it may be fuzzy or hard to hear at times. There are always going to be problems with chatting over the internet, but many agree that the pros outweigh the cons.
1.3 Standard Phone companies
People around the world are upset with the high rising cost of minutes that companies are charging. Many companies have switched to bundle packages- phone, internet, and TV, all for what they claim is one-low price! Although this is to benefit the customer, it actually helps the co mpanies stay in business. If someone is not using their phone line as much, it does not Affect the company because customers are still paying for phone services. Mobile cell phones are also affecting land-line based companies. A lot of people are strictly using cell phones, even replacing them for their home lines.
So does Skype create problems for standard phone companies? According to a recent report by Evalueserve, “ traditional phone companies could lose up to 30 percent of their revenue from people who are replacing their services with Skype software.” (Charney) Since Skype is a service, utilizing free minutes, phone companies are being affected by the lack of business. U.S. telephone companies are spending billions of dollars to expand their companies, but this may become a lost cause. Skype has such a high rate of growth, that it would cost them billions of dollars to come close to matching Skypes rate of growth. It is obvious that standard telephone companies believe that they are being affected by Skype but Skype’s Stern Tamkivi thinks differently. He claims that, “ We are not pulling away from telecoms because most of those minutes probably would have never happened if we had to pay for them at such high rates.” (Tamkivi) He makes a good point that most Skype users, use Skype as a way to avoid high cost phone charges. People may call a family member only once a week with their standard phone lines because of the high cost for long distance calls. Whereas a person using Skype may call that same family member every day because he or she is using a free calling service.
1.4 Skype Today
Everywhere you look, Skype is being used! On many talk shows, guests are no longer present, but interviewed via Skype. Oprah is one of the most widely known supporter of using Skype on her show. On the show, Who wants to be a Millionaire, one of the lifelines involves using Skype to ask an expert a question. Contestants who need help with a question can Skype, “the expert”, where they receive help with a specific question. (Wolinsky) This new “lifeline” has replaced phone a friend! Here is a prime example where standard phone calls are being replaced by web cam services like Skype! Many movies also incorporate Skype, by having the bad guys communicate via web cams. In movies like, The Dark Night, and Austin Powers, the “bad guys” demand money by communicating through VoIP services. Skype is not just a communication software for everyday people. It has extended into modern technology, and used in the media often.
Skype has even reached the job market. Employers are no longer strictly having face-to-face interviews.
Skype creates a faster, cheaper, and more convenient method to screen potential employees. According to the
Times article, How Skype Is Changing the Job Interview, “ a growing number of people looking for work are
meeting their prospective new bosses not at the office but in the comfort of their own home.” (Kiviat). The use of Skype in the workplace is mostly a money issue. It costs thousands of dollars to fly and interview potential candidates, especially in big firms. When looking to cut costs, this is an area that could easily be answered by using programs like Skype. By seeing the candidate you can see their body gestures and how they carry themselves, something that is not seen using simple telephone calls. Although there are some disadvantages of hiring over webcam, it saves a company thousands of dollars in the long run. A company can send two or three candidates for a final interview rather than a larger group of potential candidates. They can narrow down the field using Skype, which saves time and money for the final interview process. A negative aspect of interviewing people on Skype is that the experience of actually meeting a person is completely lost. Even a shake of the hand can not occur; a most common ending to an interview. Also, conference calls between a whole firm, can be via Skype. There is no longer the need to have a big meeting all together. Skype can connect a big shot from Tokyo to a small business in Ohio within a matter of seconds.
The owners of Skype were in a lawsuit with the company eBay over violated copyright laws. In 2005, eBay bought Skype for 2.6 billion. The biggest mistake that eBay did was to not buy a major piece of p2p technology that powers Skype, known as Joltid. The founders of Skype still owned this major piece of technology, so they still had control of their company. They were very upset with the way that eBay was handling the company, so they threatened to file a lawsuit. While the drama between Skype and eBay was ensuing, eBay quickly sold the company to a group of private investors. In a rage, Skype founders sued eBay for $75 million dollars a day, claiming that each new download of Skype would be a copyright infringement, because eBay does own the p2p technology needed to use Skype. The lawsuit has been pending for about a year, but has just recently been settles out of court. According to Ben Parr, “ Skype will still be sold and spun off as its own company, separate from eBay. Also, eBay will own 30% of the new Skype, down from the original 35% it was originally going to own. The founders of Skype, Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis will combined own 14% of Skype. They will also each receive a seat on the Board of Directors. Finally, Sky pe will now own Joltid, the key P2P technology in dispute and owned by the Skype founders” (Parr). Thankfully this lawsuit is settled, so that Skype users can continue to use the service with no interruptions.
So what about the high rising level of pornography? Since Skype is a free internet webcam service, many use the service to not only talk to their lovers, but engage in sexual acts. It actually does brings people together! For people who are separated from their partners because of a business trip, or on a vacation, webcam services makes it possible to be intimate with their partners virtually. It seems like a good idea, because they are paying no money, and can see each other. But according to Skype Terms and Services, “4.4.1 Content or Service, which is adult, sexual or pornographic”, will result in the account being banned. They take a clear stand that they do not want any acts of pornography used via their services. Skype prides itself on being very family friendly, so this issue is one that they take seriously. Although Skype tries everything to stop sexual acts to occur using their webcam service, there are other issues like harassment and spam that many users are faced with every day. Many women will not state their sex in their profile, in hopes they will not be harassed sexually. Some may add friends, that they do not know in hopes to engage in sexual acts, like cyber sex. In Skype Chat, sex ad spam is beginning to pop up everywhere. People will constantly post a link to a naughty site, essentially spamming a users chat box. Although pornography is an important issue, Skype is used for more appropriate things. Most people do not use Skype for pornography, but to utilize free calling to people all across the world.
Overall, Skype creates a new experience for users everywhere. It creates the opportunity to interact actively and participate with who you are talking. It may only be a matter of time before standard phones become extinct, and new web cam software technology becomes the only way of communication. A free service, Skype also connects people that a regular telephone never has before. One must experience Skype for themselves, to truly get the full effect of how intriguing it truly is. Technology has advanced so much over the years, but Skype stands above the rest. It has completely changed how people communicate with each other, and even reached the media, and job market. It is not just a fun tool to use with your friends, but a justifiable and useful tool that has helped to define technology in the 21st century.
Works Citied
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