072570

Yesterday was one of those great days in internet history.
At least as far as my family is concerned.
My mother used Skype to talk to family in Italy.
Things like instant messaging, webcams, VOIP and Skype can be taken for granted by geeks like myself or somewhat internet savvy folk like my brother (he IMs, uses Skype at work for conference calls overseas).
We use it all the time and can't see how other people haven't jumped in the pool with us.
For years, my brother and I have tried (albeit pretty passively) to get our mom to at least try instant messaging.
Mom: "So, I type something to the person and they type a response back immediately?"
Us: "Yup"
Mom: "Oh, just like email!"
Us: "..."
Earlier this week, my cousin & his fiancee in Italy sent an email to Mom (cc'd to me) asking if she had a Skype account so they could chat over the internet sometime.
After Bro and I assured dad that the only time Skype costs money is when you use the actual telephony functions and using a salt-shaker-as-a-webcam, showed mom how it would work, the ball was in motion - details were finalized and arrangements made.
Saturday 1pm Oregon time (10pm in Rome) would be mom's first "video conference call" and my MacBook would be her first time using something other than a Windows PC.

Saturday I showed up a little early to set things up and Mom was nervous, still trying to decide what to wear, crying occasionally (this was not a bad thing, she always does when it comes to her family in Italy).
She was curious as to how things would appear in the webcam, so I had some fun with Photo Booth.

One o'clock finally rolled around, I logged in to Skype and cuz was on shortly after.
I tried to connect a couple times but they didn't answer immediately, but I knew they'd call when they were ready.
Then it happened. The Skype "incoming call ring".
I accepted, the skype window opened up and "Ciao!" from the other end.
At first they could see & hear us, but we couldn't see them, but that problem was quickly squashed.
Once their video came through, Mom's happiness grew about ten-fold.
After a few minutes with my dad, brother and I in the video and a surprise appearance of my other cousin (they didn't tell Mom he was going to be there, too), my mom motioned me out of the chair so she could sit in front of the camera and the three of us happily took a back seat during the call.
She probably talked for a good hour or two.

Mom said it was better than a letter, better than an email, better than a phone call. The next best thing to actually being there.

We'll be doing it again very soon and next time, we'll be connecting my MacBook via S-Vid to Mom n Dad's new TV so she can sit comfortably on the couch -- unless the webcam has already been purchased by that time. Then all I have to do is show mom how simple it is to connect a Skype call on her own computer.