Hi Mom, remember me?
Arthur Clarke is a science fiction writer of long standing. He has been published for over 50 years with his most famous work as the basis for 2001: A Space Odyssey. A great scientific mind that thought of a ring a stationary satellites to orbit the earth, this belt was named the Clarke Belt and is the basis for our modern telecommunication system. He had many predictions that our part of our world or on the horizon of mainstream use. This entry isn´t about Clarke but to mention a prediction of his that I feel is on the verge of becoming true. I called my mom today, Clarke didn’t predict that but he did predict that long distance telephone would be free.
I called my mom from Tokyo to Florida, spoke for 40 minutes and it cost me .029 cents per minute. Wow, it´s cheaper to call Floride (or anywhere in the states) than it is to call my friends in Tokyo. This was done by a Internet protocol called VoIP (voice over IP), a telephone call using the internet. The sound quality was good, I need a better headset but it was a clear telephone call. I know this is old hat for many people but since my home has two computers running the Linux and OS X operating system there´s not much available. I found Mac2Phone and was pleasantly surprised at talking to family. The timezones are still a hurdle but I can deal with that. Now I hope they don’t get the idea I´ll make this a weekly habit.
Tags
