The Atlantic does an in-depth look on why it’s much less pleasant to have phone calls than it used to be. It’s true, but there are also some great alternatives that I’ve been having luck with recently. Facebook Messenger has a built-in audio (and video!) calling system that is okay. Facetime isn’t just for video, you can also make audio calls with it and they sound amazing (something I learned from Kanye, true story). Many times I’ll try a phone number in Facetime first just in case the person uses an iPhone. And finally Skype still works pretty well even if its clients are a bit heavy. If I’m able to be at a computer (all of these work on computer as well as apps), this Sennheiser USB headset sounds great, blocks background noise, and people say that I sound clear.
I love your phone calls however you make them!
Best comment ever! The heart of the matter.
+1 for the headset. Got it on your recommendation (thanks) and I’m loving it.
Google Hangouts are about to get a jump in call quality too:
http://venturebeat.com/2016/02/05/google-confirms-hangouts-will-now-use-peer-to-peer-connections-to-improve-call-quality-and-speed/
Even if I’ve been using some of those to be in touch with other people I would rather use some standard-based software with inspectable source. Otherwise we will never be sure that our conversations are not eavensdropped.
Something like LinPhone ( http://www.linphone.org/ )or Jitsi ( http://jitsi.org/ ) or Ekiga ( http://www.ekiga.org/ ) would be far more trust-able but I have to admit that using them is often not easy enough for non-techies