Dan's Papers - August 22, 2008

Last week, I Skyped the editorial meeting. That's not a misspelling for "skipped," even though it was a gorgeous Wednesday in the Hamptons. I worked from the glass table on my deck with the wind in my hair and a glass of iced tea nearby, in front of my laptop. There, I was able to see and hear the rest of the editorial department, just as they could see and hear me.

Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis founded Skype in 2003. They created software that makes communicating with people around the world easy and exciting. The only requirements are that you have a computer, a web camera and an Internet connection. After downloading the software, you create a username and password, and then you're able to say hello to your cousin in Australia, your college roommate in Boston or the Dan's Papers editorial staff in Bridgehampton, no matter where you are. And if both of you are on Skype, it's free.

Based in Luxembourg, Skype is very popular among Europeans and is available in 28 languages (forget that Optimum Triple Play, 877-393-4448 voice plan). Conference calls with up to 10 people, voice-to-voice and video-to-video services are free. Skype generates revenue through other offerings such as making and receiving calls to and from landline and mobile phones, as well as voicemail and call forwarding, starting at $.021 per minute. Go to www.skype.com and you can easily look up all the rates - in US dollars, Japanese Yen, Iceland Krona, you name it - and find out how much it would cost to call Afghanistan, Lebanon, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, etc. per minute. And it's much, much cheaper than typical phone rates. According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) the number of international long distance calls from the United States has skyrocketed from only about 200 million a year to more than 6.2 billion per year over the past 20 years. Today, if you wanted to call France using a basic calling plan, it would cost you $1.77-$2.77 per minute. If you and your amie both had Skype the call would be free, and if only one of you had Skype, it would cost you $.024 per minute.

Evie Salomon of Chicago, an intern here at Dan's Papers, started using Skype when she went to England to study Communications at Cambridge University. Instead of getting a PicCell phone (for making calls globally), her brother Mark told her about Skype, which ultimately saved her and the Salomon family a lot of money. "As long as the other person is online, you can talk to them for as long as you want. The picture quality is great," she said "I Skyped everyday, a couple of times a day."

Alison Caporimo of Brooklyn, who is also an intern at Dan's Papers, explained, "It's the best way to maintain a long-distance relationship. When you're separated from someone you still miss out on a lot of things that a phone conversation can't offer. Skype presents 'real-time life' that Facebook, MySpace and AIM can't. The only thing that's missing is a personal touch. Maybe that's next."

My Skype adventures didn't start with a trip abroad - they started with broken brakes. On my way to work, my brake light came on and the pressure normally felt between foot and pedal was gone. Driving around with brake problems isn't recommended, so I took my car to Corrigan's Auto in Bridgehampton. Since I live in Amagansett, I was stuck trying to hitchhike or find rides to work. It then dawned on me that not only could I help save the world - or perhaps a polar bear or two - from global warming by not driving and emitting carbon all week, but also with the magic of technology, I could still "be at work." I called Salomon and asked her to power on her Skype. Both of us have laptops with built-in cameras, and within seconds, I was presenting information at the editorial meeting - from my house.

I think this could be extremely popular here in the Hamptons - there could be an entire community of people living and working in a place called "SkypeHampton." Every summer, Skypers could broadcast high over everyone's heads via little, itty-bitty particles of energy from Montauk to Manhattan without setting a tire on Route 27.

In any case, the entire editorial department was very pleased about how successful and easy Skype was to use. Susan Galardi, managing editor of Dan's Papers, said, "It reminded me of the last scene of Salome, when the hedonistic princess sings a lengthy aria to John the Baptist, who at that point has been reduced to a head on a silver platter. But having Vicky on Skype went beyond that - she was a talking head on a silver MacBook. And unlike John the Baptist, she could actually talk back. Unfortunately, we weren't able to enjoy Strauss' exquisite music. Maybe next time we'll play a CD."

Dan Rattiner, founder of Dan's Papers, plans to start using it all the time from wherever he is - Manhattan, Canada, Tahiti or Montauk. The last thing Rattiner said to me before signing off after our editorial meeting was, "You know, Victoria, you shouldn't have gone to the bathroom in front of all of us. We can see you." I'll have to remember that for next time.