On Tue, 25 Nov 2008 10:11:34 -0800 (PST), Frogwatch
wrote:

Slate has an article extolling Skype. However, whenever someone calls
me on Skype I almost always can tell due to the poor sound quality so
I tell them to hang up and call me back on a real phone. If they have
a real reason to talk to me they can pay to use a real phone.

Skype is free, so you get what you pay for. I've a friend in St.
Petersburg, Russia and one in the Netherlands, both of whom I frequently
talk with. I've never had a problem. Lately I've been conversing with
another friend in LA, CA, again with no problem.

But, I've not tried calling a land line with Skype. Maybe that's where the
problem comes in. It may be like VOIP, which usually has a bunch of extra
static in the line - not horrible, but there and a little bothersome.
--
A Harry Krause truism:

"It's not a *baby* kicking, beautiful bride, it's just a fetus!"