SKYPE CONNECTS people through inexpensive call charges and that has excited a lot of people who generally defer technology to the geeks. If eBay is right--and eBay analysts needed a 78-page PowerPoint presentation to explain to investors why they think they got the acquisition of Skype right--people want to talk to one another about sales. So someone in Tipperary looking for a FreeView satellite installation could simply Skype one, at which point the plumber would pay eBay for the lead. This usage model is not lost on my builder, who wants Skype installed in his site office immediately after it becomes a WiFi hotspot.
I'm getting a few SkypeIn calls a week now but unfortunately they're coming from Philadelphia locals who confuse me with a pizza delivery service. There are limits to technology. I am impressed how Skype knows it needs to use its Irish exchange to dial my mobile phone when it senses a weak signal or a dropped call. Last year, who would have imagined a Skype phone exchange in Ireland? Between Skype and Blueface, I imagine that I will have a Dublin number before long.
Daniel Roth -- "The Net's New Odd Couple" in Fortune, 3 October 2005.
