A few weeks ago, i –who try to be an evangelist for the contrary– gave in to proprietary software. I installed Skype. One driver was that a Skype client exists on Linux (my borrowed laptop runs Mepis). But i did feel dirty and ashamed. I’ve drummed for H.323 and SIP –we even have a SIP phone at home– and bashed Skype for its proprietary protocol and client, and now i am one of the dark side. And it works.

Very fittingly, Skype’s tagline is Free Internet Telephony That Just Works™. It just does. While i can’t get into the intricacies of our network configuration at this place, let me just tell you that it is exotic. And it is a miracle that anything goes through it, if you start unwinding the bits and and unwrapping the packets. All you normal users should be thankful you do not understand what’s going on

Anyways, i got a call from my sister’s husband the other week and i just finished a half-hour call with a friend in Finland who i haven’t seen in ages. The sound quality was very good, but the delays took some getting used to. Still, i am impressed that the sound didn’t break up too many times, again, considering the network here and to this place.

What this really proves is that technology by itself isn’t really very exciting by itself. It is the use of technology that is. Last winter, we took a walk on the ice outside Helsinki. I took a picture of my daughter with my phone and emailed it “live” on the spot to her grandparents. This is a nifty use of technology. Speaking with somebody on the other side of the world is nifty use of technology. I’m really sad that i didn’t rig a web camera on my computer back home before i came here; it would have been so nice to be able to see my wife and daughter in near-realtime, and for them to be able to see me. It’s fun –even mind-boggling– to think that this was science fiction just a few years ago. Now it’s a possibility.

If you’re a Skype user, ping me. If not, maybe you should become one (and i will go back to open implementations when i’m back home again)

Other random and fun uses for a broadband connection that could be realized, but won’t: accessing my music collection on my computer back home; downloading BSG, legally if possible, using p2p-technologies. Well, maybe next time. I will be prepared.