Thanks to the Skype program, staying in touch with family and friends has become much easier
Life abroad for us was once as distant as life on other planets, and leaving for abroad meant we had lost our friend or relative forever. Very rarely, letters were sent through occasional opportunities, which otherwise could simply get lost in the vastness of our immense and controlled postal service.
One could call by phone. But this type of communication was extremely expensive. So much so that the majority of Soviet citizens not only did not know how to do it, but did not even realize that they had to dial not with an '8' but with a '10'. Moreover, these calls were unequivocally monitored.
With the advent of the Internet, life became much simpler. First, the possibility of writing emails to each other opened up. Then came mobile communication (with its expensive but still accessible roaming and the concept of IP telephony). And alongside appeared the ICQ program, or 'asya', which allowed us not only to easily contact friends and acquaintances abroad, but also to do it regularly, virtually at any time of day or night.
Longing for the homeland and the despair of those left behind became much softer, and going abroad was no longer so scary; it gradually became a normal and familiar matter. Especially since communication was not lost. So, we hasten to inform you that scientific and technological progress does not stand still, and the Skype program has long appeared in the world. Don't know what that is?
It is a way to talk to a person on the other side of the Earth at the cost of internet traffic. Yes, yes, ordinary internet traffic. It can be said that it is a voice analog of ICQ. By the way, you can download Skype for free; it is easy to find on the network. Installing it is a bit more complicated than any other program, because you need to connect a microphone and headphones or speakers to the computer. All this is done very easily, since there are corresponding graphic icons on the connectors of the computer's system unit.
If everything goes well, then you can start talking to anyone and even invite all your relatives to a conference, which will be even better than a phone call, because there only two people talk, but here everyone can (depending on the quality of the microphone). All this simple equipment is not that expensive; the minimum price starts from 3-4 dollars. The upper limit is not limited, since there is the concept of 'professional acoustic systems', but we are not striving for that, right?
Probably, in another five years, it will be possible to connect a small camera and make a video call, but that is a matter of the near future. For now, talk as if on the phone, but much more conveniently and cheaper! At your service is the Skype program!
_