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Talking Heads ~ Video phones ~ Skype

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Talking Heads #7
"It occurred to me that nothing is more interesting than opinion when opinion is interesting..."
Herbert Bayard Swope, creator of the Op-Ed page.


A two week  forum for opinions on anything in print: magazines, newspaper articles, online: bring your ideas and let's discuss.

Our Seventh Selection is:      
Video phones ~ Skype
Why People Don't Like Video Chatting
Time: January 18, 2010



What is Skype? Why do we need it for every day communication? Yes it would be fun to see the grandchildren. What about everybody else you get emails from or communicate online with. What do you really  do when you talk on the phone?

 In this age of instantly knowing what celebrities are thinking backstage at the Oscars via Twitter and the immediacy of Chat on the Internet,  how much closeness in communication is too much? Do you really want to SEE the other person you're talking to, on the phone, or on the computer via SKYPE?


What do you think of some of the author's assertations:


--- Quote ---That's because Skype breaks the century-old social contract of the phone: we pay close attention while we're talking and zone out while you are.

As soon as you begin to talk, I feel trapped and desperately scan the room for tasks I can do to justify the enormous waste of time that is your talking. I wash dishes, I file receipts, I read news sites, I make little fake suicide faces to my wife Cassandra about how much I want to hang up that cause her to yell "Joel, I need you now" in a really unconvincing way that I've asked her not to do, but I still can't stop making the suicide faces. In desperate times, when I am on my cell phone in the middle of nowhere, I will pace. The only other time I pace is when I stub a toe or burn myself. But when I start talking, I assume that you are sitting perfectly still, rapt. And while that is actually true when I'm talking, people aren't listening to those of you who haven't been on E!.

But Skype requires me to look at you while you're talking, which is totally ridiculous.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1952314,00.html#ixzz0hQQn2C7X

--- End quote ---



Do YOU multi task while on the phone? And if not, why not? Have electronics changed our lives for better or worse? Are we more connected but at an arm's length?

How invasive is too invasive? What are you wearing right now? Would you be comfortable if we all could suddenly see each other typing here? Would you dress up for a SKYPE call?

Let's discuss this latest development to bring us closer, do we really want that?  

ginny:
Are you in danger of being left behind in the....I don't even know what to call it, the electronic revolution? How many of you have ipods and the newest note pad things (note I don't know even what to call them), I know many have the electronic readers, but how about SKYPE?

Twitter, Facebook, we're getting used to the instant info of the world, the instant opinion,  but personally how has this affected you?

SKYPE apparently allows you to talk to another person while seeing them talking to you on the screen. It's a video phone. What's your reaction to the video phone??

'Fess up, do you multi task when talking? Put up the dishes? Thumb through a magazine? Even typing on the computer?

Read the hilarious quote by the author of this piece from Time Magazine and then ask yourself how far from your own experience he is?

Is there some truth in the idea that we always think people are hanging on our every word while we ourselves don't do the same when they call,  or do we?

Do we REALLY want the other person we're talking to, on the phone or here to see us?  Does it depend on who is calling? How about those pesky telemarketers (I bet THAT would be some kind of something to see, the telemarketer who has called). I bet it's a huge room full of people on phones.

What are you wearing,  for instance as we type this? If somehow magically we could all see who we're talking to would you want that? Would you get dressed  up just to talk on the phone?

You have to ask what it says about us as a people that we want to talk to each other but not necessarily SEE each other.

I can see there would be some benefits, grandchildren, soldiers overseas, but  are there any drawbacks? Let's discuss this new technology, do you yourself use SKYPE?

Let's discuss!

maryz:
Sounds like fun, Ginny.  Do I Skype?  No - at least  not yet.  I do have a new laptop that has a camera, but I don't have a clue as to how to use it.

I do use my cell phone, still have a landline and answering machine.  But I've had texting blocked from our phones - we got too many wrong numbers that we had to pay for.  However, our grands text constantly, so who knows what'll happen to the phone next.

Soon, we'll have more computers than TVs in our house.  We do have a new flat-screen, HD TV.  We have fiberoptic connection for phone/TV/internet.  Our small back-room TV almost never gets turned on.  But by next week, we'll have a desktop and two laptop computers.   ::)

nlhome:
We don't use SKYPE, but we have done video conversations in another form. It's nice to see my daughter, who is too far away to visit often, in real time. We have neighbors who use it regularly to talk to their children who are far away. For that, it's great, but it requires advance preparation because of time zones, etc.

 My daughter and I,  we mostly talk on the phone. She calls while she is walking somewhere - all of my adult children do that. And sometimes I have to remind them that I am probably sitting at my work desk or making supper, but usually I am just grateful that they use this time to call ME. And we chat.

I multitask at work while on the phone, using an earpiece so I can pull a file or get a cup of coffee or jot a note, maybe find a web page. At home, I don't have the earpiece, so I end up bending my neck to hold the phone or doing things like unloading the dishwasher with one hand. My friends do the same thing.

I certainly wouldn't want people seeing me at my computer first thing in the morning!

We use Facebook and regular email. It's more convenient to email someone when I am thinking of them than to wait to call them at a time I think they might be available. We also text at times when a phone call would be intrusive. Our cell phones have free incoming, so that's at least half a savings!!

Babi:
 Since I can no longer use a phone, this is sort of academic for me.
Back when I could use one, however, I definitely would not have wanted to be seen every time I talked to anyone. Dash to run a comb through my hair and make sure I hadn't spilled something on my shirt front? Nah.
Don't think so.
  My daughter had a camera on our computer for a while. It was an amusing novelty, but eventually it disappeared. I don't know what happened to it; I'll have to ask.

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