I Love Skype
There are 2 things that I believe were designed with Missionaries in mind. They are Skype and the iPod. Let me explain.
First of all, a brief lesson in long-distance to and from Mexico. Mexico's phone system, as I understand it either has not undergone deregulation, or when it did, was taken over by a monopoly, as a result, those of us wanting to talk with loved ones back home or those in the U.S. wanting to talk with people in Mexico, pay an inordinate amount of money to do so. Not no more! With Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) which is what companies like Skype, Vonage and others do, I can call home for $0.02/minute. In the 15 or so years that I have been coming down to and living in Mexico, these rates are unheard of. I remember when I used to pay $0.50/minute.
Secondly, the iPod. Wow, a little hand-held device that will store up to 1,000 or more CDs? That's amazing. I have CDs down here in Mexico that I'm now going to ship back home because I simply don't need them anymore. I can travel anywhere in the world and bring my whole music collection with me (not to mention videos, etc.). I love it. I recognize I am not on the cutting edge here and that most of you already have at least an iPod Nano if not a larger one. Nonetheless, it is super cool to have one as a missionary when space and weight always have to be taken into consideration.
First of all, a brief lesson in long-distance to and from Mexico. Mexico's phone system, as I understand it either has not undergone deregulation, or when it did, was taken over by a monopoly, as a result, those of us wanting to talk with loved ones back home or those in the U.S. wanting to talk with people in Mexico, pay an inordinate amount of money to do so. Not no more! With Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) which is what companies like Skype, Vonage and others do, I can call home for $0.02/minute. In the 15 or so years that I have been coming down to and living in Mexico, these rates are unheard of. I remember when I used to pay $0.50/minute.
Secondly, the iPod. Wow, a little hand-held device that will store up to 1,000 or more CDs? That's amazing. I have CDs down here in Mexico that I'm now going to ship back home because I simply don't need them anymore. I can travel anywhere in the world and bring my whole music collection with me (not to mention videos, etc.). I love it. I recognize I am not on the cutting edge here and that most of you already have at least an iPod Nano if not a larger one. Nonetheless, it is super cool to have one as a missionary when space and weight always have to be taken into consideration.
posted by Ron Wilson | 3:49 PM
2 Comments:
Just read your newsletter. It's good to hear that God is blessing your ministry!
Skype is a great invention, I agree :). I don't use it, but I've heard it is making a difference in mission oriented communities all over the world, helping fight feelings of homesickness.
IPODs, Ipods are phenomenol. They allow a model of ministry in which you are in people's pockets. Literally. In the past, you had to order a cd, or a tape. Now, once they subscribe to your feed through itunes, you're automatically on their ipod. It could allow someone in Mexico to disciple all of Europe, if they had the annointing for it ;)
Be bless my friend.
Ipods are pretty nice. I think skype is great, and glad you look at it as useful tool. I use skype as well, but usually to keep in touch with people, or the occasional call for free (since calls in the US outbound from skype are free till 2007. It's pretty nice, good job on the post!
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