For as long as I can remember (and before Marty McFly came along...), people always thought the future meant flying cars. There is a flying car out there now, but in truth, it's more like a plane that can be driven on the road than a car that can fly.
Another indicator that we had officially reached the future was the advent of a working video phone. There have been video phones for years, but if you've ever seen the movie, "Mother," a classic from the comedic genius of Albert Brooks, you know the drawbacks of that early video phone.
Enter Skype. I never had the need to use Skype until I began podcasting. I just downloaded the program, followed the instructions and I was good to go. Tonight we had family from out of town visiting. After dinner they skyped their daughter on their iPad. It was a bonafide, honest to goodness video phone. You could see them; they could see you. There's a slight delay, but it's not worth worrying about. It works so well.
"It's amazing that you can just make a call and see the people on the other side of the world, and it's a free call." I told my mother-in-law. She agreed with me how cool the amazing technology is. My kids loved seeing and talking to the kids on the iPad screen. I'm sure in their world, a working video phone is a normal as 500+ channels on cable.
We don't have flying cars, yet. But the future is here and its name is Skype.
We love Skype. It was how my husband and I communicated before he got his residence status. It was how he got to see his son for nearly the whole first year of his life. Now we Skype with the family over in Denmark. It is a fabulous tool.
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