vowe's choice in Instant Messaging
by Volker Weber
Skype has replaced all other networks for instant messaging at vowe's magic flying circus. I do get online in the AIM network once in a while, but Skype is the only client I use all of the time. Interestingly enough I don't use Skype for a lot of phone calls. But the IM experience is superior. I never hit a limit that a message is too long, as I often do in AIM. It transfers small files easily from peer to peer, and it never fails to do so unlike other IM clients.
If you are looking for my online presence, use Skype. Period.
Skype IDs go here.
Comments
I still miss a embedded video system. vSkype was really nice until it changed into Festoon and integrated all that idiotic effects plus blinking ad.
At the moment I use Skype also all the time, but I hope I can change to Google Talk when it improves significantly and therefore spread Jabber.
Indeed. Jabber wins the openness contest over any other network. And Google Talk can make it ubiquitous. For now it is not.
I implemented a Jabber server within hours from bare metal, including the operating system and getting all team members online, when a few years ago a client failed to "get" Sametime, and the IT people were stonewalling. I liked its simplicity.
Skype's resource requirements for effective VoIP are well beyond my machine (G3 500Mhz iBook, 640MByte RAM, OS X 10.4.) It works fine as an IM client, but it requires loading the entire program to sign on, at a RAM cost of 30 MBytes, and or course, loads into the Dock. iChat, in comparison, has a background agent that runs and displays basic functionality in the menu bar (system tray, for you Windows users), and only consumes 2 MBytes RAM to do so.
I have yet to complete a voice conversation with Skype that has satisfactory voice quality. I presume my machine just isn't powerful enough. And yet, iChat VoIP, despite its narrower frequency response, always provides land-line equivalent voice quality, while requiring something less than 20 Kbps bandwidth. Yes, Skype is encrypted, which is good, but it just doesn't work for all users. I hope that Google has an aggressive development schedule for Talk.
David, i think it is time to treat yourself to a new computer. :-)
Who does use Skype for phone? 95% text usage here. ;)
95% voice here.
How do you pronounce your name - Thor? Looks great!
And this comes in quite handy while you are not using your own computer.
I like nordic names :-)
There's quite some dispute (IMHO hardly resolvable) about how Þór is pronounced properly (i.e. how it was pronounced by the Vikings). Which of course doesn't mean that the way it is pronounced today is wrong. I for once am somewhat fascinated when hearing a native Norwegian pronounce my name. There are sounds which my tounge is just not conditioned to produce.
