Technology and a long distance relationship.

Ever since I met Jenn different ways of communicating electronically has been an important part of our daily life. That is how we first got to know each other, and these days this is how we maintain our long distance relationship, and keep in touch on a daily basis as a husband and a wife.

When Jenn and I first met, we had contact for a while through email. That's how we got to know the basics about each other, and could make a decision we wanted to get to know each other better. The first kind of direct messaging / instant messaging service I used for having contact with Jenn was MSN. This is the "old" reliable messenger service, and except from some odd chat channels (IRC) this was the only messenger application I had from before. I had only used it for plain text messaging, but Jenn and I soon decided to try the webcam option. Jenn had a webcam, and I bought one too. The first time I used the cam, it felt weird to see her and know that she could see me too. It soon felt more natural, but we discovered that MSN wasn't optimized for this, as the video conversations cut out very often.

Then we decided to move on to Skype, that has a better way of dealing with the video transfers, and provides a much more stable connection. The longest period I have been in a call is 36 hours in a row, so no need to reconnect very often. Skype is quite demanding on the system resources, though. A Skype videocall usually uses 80-90% CPU, so a couple of other applications at the same time causes the CPU to run 100% all the time and slow down the computer a bit. Other demanding applications running at the same time has caused my ThinkPad T43 (Centriono 1.73GHz / 1Gb RAM) to lock up a couple of times. Later this weekend I will see how my home computer (Pentium 4 3.0GHz / 512Mb RAM) actually handles this.

At the same time as we moved on to Skype, we also decided to try Google Talk. Jenn was often on the move, and she had access to a mobile Google Talk application through her Blackberry 6300 mobile phone. She has an unlimited dataplan through AT&T, so this was free for her. Google Talk turned out to have a decent interface also for computer, so we gradually skipped MSN totally and chatted through Google Talk during the times Jenn was on the move or other things prevented us from making video calls through Skype. When I lived in the US last year, I had my own Blackberry 6310, and we could communicate through Google Talk from phone to computer or directly from phone to phone at all times. Google Talk now also offers a video call service that requiers less system resources than Skype. Only 50-60% CPU, which makes a difference.

So even though we have quite some options, some times (especially with me in Norway) the only thing working is regular phonecalls. My solution on how to make phonecalls at an almost decent price is actully once again Skype. Skype To Go is a service where you call a Skype To Go number, chose what foreign phone number you want to call, and Skype takes care of it. Unfortunately there is no Skype To Go number in Norway, so I have to call a number in Sweden. But calling Sweden is still cheaper than calling directly to the US.

Jenn has found another solution for caling from her side. Trough Scoot, a Blackberry compatible application for Skype is available, and since this uses the Blackberry data connection, this is free. You need Skype credit, but calling landlines is still very cheap.

So all in all, Skype is the application that has given us most opportunities, and it has even given us some memorable moments. The first time we heard each others voices was through Skype, with me saying the now famous words "Hello, can you hear me?" And after spending some nights on Skype, sharing wine and beer, talking and listening to each other music, I really realised I had found a very special friend in this amerian girl, and that I wanted to know her even better.

(Regular mail? Yes, we have tried that too. I send it, and after 7-8 days Jenn has it.. Instant letters.. Uhm..)