Recently in Consumerism Category

As the arguments have gone on about how to bail out the US auto industry, I've thought a lot about it myself.I believe that the US auto industry can be saved with some rather simple steps.  Primarily, these include such common-sense things as un-crippling the automakers, reforming the automotive market, and trying some innovative experimental tax reform.

Last week, my wife and I finally upgraded our phones.  We knew we needed more from our phones, so I spent some time looking at the options.  I'm crazy like that.  When we first got our cellphones four years ago, I spent 2-3 months talking to everyone who had a cellphone about their plan, their service, and their phone.  I wanted to make the right decision, without hassle.  I gathered the evidence myself, and made the decision.  I did the same with this purchase.

I prepared for a few days beforehand, browsing apps in the iTunes App Store, and grabbing a collection of apps that looked useful, so I could jump right in when I got the phone.  Finally, the day before Thanksgiving, the wife and I drove down to make our purchase.

I know I've blogged about it before, but I'm just LOVING this Skype service. Personally, I'm only using it for Skype to Skype calling, but my friend Dave has turned it into his primary phone line when he's on the road (which is all the time).

What is Skype? Skype is a Voice Over IP application that acts like a telephone. Using my headset, I can talk to other Skype users without worrying about long distance rates or using my cellphone minutes. They also have options for having your own telephone number, so people can call you by phone and you answer through your broadband connection. One great feature of this is that you can use Skype from your hotel room when you're on the road. Dave uses his with his notebook PC, and has access to his phone line everywhere he goes. He's reduced his cellphone minutes to 200 per month, and saves big bucks. He has both the SkypeIn function (the phone number) and SkypeOut (call phone numbers for 2 cents per minute).

If you haven't tried VoIP yet, it's a great way to go. As I say, I'm not using SkypeOut or SkypeIn yet, and I'm loving it. If you're interested in trying it out for free, with the PC-to-PC option only, like I am, click here to try Skype.

Skype me by clicking this link once you've installed Skype.

Just after typing this, I spent over half an hour talking with Danny Chen, a young man in China who is practicing his English. We had an enjoyable conversation, and I picked up some new Mandarin words to use.

I've finally joined the 21st Century. I got a cellphone. I needed to be able to be reached directly, and to call home regularly, so I took the jump. I looked at the various options, and talked to a lot of cellphone users before I decided which company to go with, as well. The winner? Alltel.