2007 may go down as the year Skype video helped video conversations become mainstream for families.
Virtual Christmas 2007
07:15 minutesFor example, agnes988 spent Christmas with her family.

This year I got to join the family via pc, thanks to Skype. Because my sister "lost" her camera, I decided to film it in 45 second clips using our little 5mp digital. I compiled the best parts and created my first edit. It isn't fantastic but it makes ME smile. I wasn't going for professional...just fun.

Note that all the female voices sound the same. That's Mom, my sister and myself. I'm the loud one because I'm closer to the mike. (and Oh those Texas accents, huh?) Ignore the overlapping echoes please. Just laugh with the kids. THAT's what Christmas is for anyway. :)

People substitute Skype video for days of travel, for airfare, for lost work. That's millions of dollars shifting from travel costs to consumer goods.

Skyping makes impossible conversations possible, audio conversations richer, and brings people closer.

Skype has many opportunities as they build their video capabilities and video platforms.

• Make it easy to save video to disk or to a web service.
• Include simple tools to edit video locally or on a web site.
• Make it easy to preview and watch video locally
• Provide open tools to share saved video, whether to a mainstream video site like YouTube, to a community site like Meetup or facebook, or to a blogging site like Skype Journal or Wordpress.com.
• Bridge multiple conversations with threaded video chat. Look to Seesmic and YouTube for examples.

And I am so eager for Skype video to become part of the mobile client. Jeff Pulver talked about the Led Zeppelin  concert where 20,000 fans not only took photos but shot video. I want Skype to be the destination, the channel, where I stream that video, or tune in to watch a world of live conversation.

So, if you cannot be with the ones you love, Skype them.