I saw a woman walking down the street today speaking into her cell phone. And realized she was the first person I had seen talking in public on a cell phone since I’ve been here. I thought perhaps I just hadn’t been noticing so I kept looking for cell phone talkers. After a few hours, I did see a gentleman sitting in the hotel lounge area and he was on his phone. I thought back to the last few days in Virginia: standing in line at Whole Foods with three or four conversations going on around me; going out to my car from Lord and Taylor and finding ten or so people walking toward me, all intent on their phone calls; the woman in the Dulles Airport who spoke loudly and incessantly for the 45 minutes I waited for my plane; the 50 or 60 phones that came out for final goodbyes as we were called to board. I know the Netherlands is well-wired and most people have a cell phone. They just don’t use their phone quite the way folks in the US do. And they are a lot less annoying.
I talked to both of my sons today on the phone. James discovered that he could download a Skype application to his Android and he could call my computer on Skype. I can also call his Skype Android app and even leave messages on his phone if he isn’t available. I e-mailed Justin with the news and he quickly downloaded the same app and we talked as well. I can of course call any phone number from my computer Skype account but the charges, while more reasonable than many companies, are still pricey for international calls. Skype to Skype on the other hand is free. So my boys and I chatted away without having to count the pennies and we had a great time.
To be perfectly clear, Skype to Skype is free for now. I read today that Skype is being acquired by Microsoft so I’m not sure how much longer we can expect free calls.
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