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Video Chats Overcome Clunkiness
By DAVID POGUE
Published: February 4, 2009

When AT&T demonstrated its video telephone at the 1964 World’s Fair, everyone — including AT&T — pretty much figured that it would be the future. People wouldn’t just hear each other over the phone — they would see each other, too.

What everyone forgot, of course, was a little factor called human nature. People don’t want to be watched on the phone. You don’t want to have to make yourself presentable, to perform or to give up the freedom of multitasking. In the absence of video, you can walk around cleaning, perform small acts of personal grooming, maybe roll your eyes at a stupid comment.

And so here we are, 45 years later, still making audio-only phone calls. Not because of technological limits, but human ones.

So what about Skype?

If you’re under 30 or so, you probably know all about Skype. It’s a free program (Mac, Windows or Linux) that connects you to other people who have Skype. You can type instant messages back and forth, make crystal-clear audio calls, and, yes, even make video calls, provided your computers have webcams or built-in cameras — all without paying a penny. More