Skype and the Bush Telegraph
“Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.” George Carlin
Over the past year, 3 of my closest friends (Mike, Paddy and Toby) have left the UK, for Thailand, Pakistan and Singapore. You might tell me that it’s time to get the hint. Instead, I got Skype. In doing so, I was all too aware that most of the civilised world had made this leap already, and that, at least in Britain, we are a nation of Skypers? Or are we?
Well, imagine my relief to discover that, here in the UK, only 12% of adults have used a Voice over IP service (like Skype) at home. This compares, by the way, to 20% of us who have used an online social network. These stats are actually more interesting than they first appear, you know. In total, 65% of us have the internet at home, although word reaches me that this compares to 77% of the Swedes. But then it is VERY cold up there.
Having established that 88% of us haven’t used VoIP yet, you have to wonder why, don’t you? It’s not especially tricky, and it’s free for goodness sake.
Listen to me. 6 minutes chatting to Thailand and I’m standing, catching my breath, looking back down the hill behind me shouting ‘come on you lot’ in a loud smug voice…
Sort-of-Seriously though, In the week when US presidential candidate John McCain mentioned that, unlike 246 million Americans, he doesn’t ‘yet’ go online personally, you have to ask, when it comes to easy-to-use and money-saving Skype, why hasn’t the bush telegraph spread the word quicker and farther?
Answers on an E-postcard.
Skype-skype is great, but for better/more consstent quality VOIP to landline calls Jajah.com is great, saved me a fortune and works with my landline handset.