International phone cards had become almost daily purchases by my second week away from home. Any semblances of normalcy were interrupted by a pitiless female voice droning, “one minute remaining.” Hurried goodbyes gave way to silent waiting while precious seconds wasted away. There was no playful tag-teaming to decide who should hang up first. There was only the hurry to end properly and then the waiting, before being cut off once more.
One day after answering my phone, I was greeted by a familiar lull, a familiar kind of waiting.
“There’s a delay.”
My father shouted this as though he would, by his own power, make himself be heard across the ocean and deep into this continent. There was a delay. A three second delay that often involved the vocal equivalent to a twelve-car pile up on a freeway. Regardless of the delay and the fact that I developed a kindred but vile echo, the Yap Jack made calling Montego Bay less expensive and a lot more fun (…in retrospect). My family and I had to learn the rhythm of this new technology and after mastering it we had many long and meaningful conversations deftly negotiated through dissonant echoes and 3 second rests. Though we seldom even think of it now (we use Netstream Global Voiceline), the Yap Jack allowed my family the invaluable opportunity to stay in touch from a distance and shortened the goodbye wait to 3 seconds.
I really appreciated the sway and rhythm of your post. That’s one.
I spent my freshman and sophomore years keeping my ties with home with phone cards and the chilly voice of the AT&T automated operator. I remember trying to teach my mother how to use a voice chat system knowing that my dad never would. That didn’t work. I think it’s lovely that your family found a way to adjust to the tool that keeps your relationship active.
In the same vein, I think Skype may be one of the most amazing inventions ever created. I have a lot of friends abroad this semester, and for free (for PCs you have to purchase a headset) you can talk to anyone in the world as long as they have internet access. Despite the catchiness of “Avenue Q,” internet is noy just for pornography, it actually really does connect people.
I really like the way you wrote your techno-bio, especially because it is something I can not really relate to. This is such a good example of how useful this type of media is in our culture today. It seems as if it would be impossible for you to be so far away from home, disconnected from your family, without things like Skype and Yap Jack. If it weren’t for these sources of communication, would you be where you are today? Or would you stay closer to home? It’s interesting to think about..
mmm..i don’t think Skyipe is that good. in my experience, it works whenever it feels like it. i talk to my family through it, but usually i have to scream for them to hear me, or i can only hear half of what they say. when that happens we usually hang up, nobody in my family is that patient!
but i agree: skype allows me to call everyone in any part of the world as often as i want to,so every time i am home i feel that i ve never left (cause i know what happens on a weekly basis).
on the other hand, i lived in norway for two years before coming here, and there i only managed to hear my family’s voice 3 times every year. and i wasn’t too sad about it. i think that if it had happened the other way around (first living in a place where i can talk to them often, then move somewhere where i don’t have a computer or phone) i would have suffered a lot. what i am saying is that we get used to technology very fast,and we usually forget that we could survive without the things that now seem indispensable.
I also like the way you wrote you techno-bio. This is not something that I have really had to experience. My parents like about an hour from campus, but feel as though Skype helps us both keep up to date on what’s going on in the other’s life. And now that a lot of my friends are abroad this year, I use Skype to keep in touch with them. I even got my great grandmother to use Skype! I do agree that we get used to technology very quickly and it is only when we don’t have that technology that we realize just how much we depend on it.