Subscribe by EmailDrift off to sleep with Ambient Skype
March 19, 2008 by Mark O'Neill |By Mark O’Neill
When the cost of bandwidth is virtually next to nothing these days, couples who find themselves apart are using Skype to recreate that “at home” feeling. It even has a name - Ambient Skype.
Basically you leave the app constantly running on your computer as background noise. Since Skype-to-Skype calls are free, it doesn’t cost you a dime (except maybe electricity to keep the computer up). You don’t have to talk to your partner all the time (who talks to one another non-stop 24/7 anyway?). Skype just stays running and if the webcam is on, you can drop off to sleep together, listening to one another breathing, snoring, talking in their sleep, farting… just like a real “together” couple!
As I said, this would be good if couples found themselves apart due to business trips but it would also be good for long distance relationships or families who are scattered across the globe for one reason or another. As well as dropping off to sleep together, you can also leave Skype on to listen to your kids screaming their heads off in the background or generally listen to comforting sounds of home. Anything to avoid those pangs of homesickness.
Photo courtesy of Roo Reynolds - re-published under a Creative Commons License.
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I totally agree with this and have been successfully using this for about 2 years now!
Whenever my gf has to go home… this comes in very handy..
and even when im at college.. and my best friend is in another state… im used to seeing him pretty much everyday when im home… so during the day.. skype is left on in my room and at his house and we pretty much just scream into the computers to get the other’s attention.. its like being back in my hometown and just dropping in at his house whenever I feel like..
its amazing what technology can let you acheive..
also.. with the new laptops with built in mics and cams.. its way more convenient and it allows for a lot of mobility and u dont have to wear the dorky microphones
This reminds me of a current Cisco commercial were two people “meet on the street” by passing by a store window with a Cisco video conferencing session setup.