What is Skype?

To my grandson, Skype is this cool electronic thingie that his dad has. All he has to say is “Skype Gamma” and his dad will pick it up and call his “gamma”. He can then talk to me, and hear my voice.

Skype does more than that. Think of it as an instant message program with all the extras.

I can login, put on my headphones and call another Skype user from my laptop, holding a free conversation from around the world.

Some users have a webcam set up so they can see the person they are talking too.

Of course you can always use the chat feature.

But what if you want to call someone who doesn’t have Skype? For a small fee, there is a way to do that.

Of course you don’t even have to be connected to a computer. There are devices you can buy such as smart phones, which you can use with Skype. Think of it as another way to make phone calls, almost like a cell phone.

I don’t use Skype and other IM programs that much. Nothing to do with Skype, but time management for me. I get distracted too easily when interrupted when working on a project.

Of course, my grandson can “Skype Gamma” anytime, just has to call my home phone, as I’m not logged into Skype all day.