While I am constantly immersed in some aspect of technology, on a personal level, I’m a bit of a technology laggard.  If something is working, I don’t have a driving need to replace it with the latest technology. I still own one black-and-white television and two of my televisions have rabbit ears, though I won’t keep them past February 17, 2009, when a  digital converter will be necessary to allow them to continue to work.

However, having just returned from the U.K., where I spent $0.99 per minute to make calls back to the U.S. on my AT&T Blackberry (that’s with the International Calling Plan discount), I decided I need to join the more-technically-current crowd.  Turns out that for many situations, a Logitech camera and microphone together with a Skype account provided the perfect remedy to the pain of expensive international calls.

I was in New York in 1964, to see the 1964 New York World’s Fair.  I don’t think that Skype and Logitech are what AT&T had in mind, when they showed their Picturephone at the Fair.  It’s rather impressive what 44 years of additional innovation can bring.

Logitech Camera 

Conservation of cash is critical in any startup.  And while you may not want to use Skype for important meetings with potential customers, the technology is more than good enough, given a halfway decent internet connection, for internal meetings.  And the video capabilities add a nice, friendly touch.  So save your cash!

Today I made four Skype calls to my client, StorMagic, in the UK, at no additional cost.  And whenever possible, I’ll do future calls with my client, Axxana, in Israel, using Skype.  Given that I work with startups, it’s a nice way to help them save money, too.