Thanks to technology, communication has never been more convenient and there're just much more choices available. It's a blessing to ex-pats like me since it's now only too easy to keep in touch with family and friends.
It's basically free these days to have a conversation over the internet, and with a webcam a video conversation becomes very straightforward. If you really like to, you can arrange to see and chat with your loved one(s) around the clock despite the tyranny of distance. My parents just can't live without it ever since I moved out! A bonus since using the internet for conversations is that I've had plenty of occasions to talk with many of my friends who are doing the same. It's really unimaginable in the past.
Even for those who never use the internet for conversations, the price of long distance phone calls is falling all the time. A phone call lasting 15 to 20 minutes will easily cost less than a can of Coke! When I phone up my relatives, they usually like to end by saying, 'I shouldn't bother you for too long; long distance phone calls are expensive.' That may be true in the yesteryears, but now it's nothing more than a somewhat outmoded cliché.
Recently one of my friends introduced me to Facebook, and it's just another world out there. Many of my other friends are already subscribed to Facebook and use it as another private e-mail account. But the real gem of Facebook is that it's an easy way to find and re-establish 'long-lost' contacts. Within a month of signing up, there are already quite a few friends from school and university days who have linked up with me. And when I look up their list of friends, I've found out many more whom I haven't contacted for ages. It'd be nice to say hello to them all, when I have time.
But alas, time is the main problem here. There are now so many channels to communicate, and it's only a matter if you have the time to check and reply to them all. A couple of weeks ago, I exchanged my contact details with a colleague who is about to leave. I remarked how easy it was nowadays to stay in touch, 'I have two gmail accounts, another e-mail account, work e-mail, MSN, Skype, and now Facebook. I just have to keep track of them all.' He jokingly replied, 'Just remember to check them every 20 minutes!'
現今科技，其中最造褔人群之一，就是通訊愈來愈方便、愈來愈多方法。特別對旅居海外的人來說，跟家人及朋友保持聯絡是容易得多了。
現在上網通話，基本上是免費的，如果安裝了網絡攝影機，更可以視像通話，要「朝夕相對」，絕非難事，父母對此愛不釋手。我的舊同學和朋友，很多也會上網通話，有時我也會跟他們閒聊，這是從前怎樣也想像不到的。
就算沒有上網通話，打長途電話也愈來愈划算，講十五、二十分鐘，比喝一罐汽水還便宜，跟親戚通電話，他們的「收場白」，通常都是：「電話費貴，不耽誤你了。」此話從前倒是千真萬確，今天聽來祇是一句有點過時的客套說話了。
最近有朋友介紹我用Facebook，又開拓了新一個聯絡途徑，原來其他朋友早已「入會」，當作另一個私人電郵信箱使用，但Facebook最大的功能，就像畢業紀念冊，用了一個月，陸續有昔日中學和大學同窗「找上門」，有時我也查看其他人的友人名冊，發現更多久無聯絡的人，有空真想跟他們在Facebook打個招呼。
不過，時間正是個大大問題，這麼多聯絡渠道，祇怕你不夠時間逐一翻閱、答覆，早陣子跟一個行將離職的同事交換聯絡資料時，我苦笑道：「要找我不難呀，我現在有兩個gmail帳戶、另一個電郵帳戶、辦工電郵、MSN、Skype，現在還加上Facebook呢，真得一眼關七！」他跟我開玩笑說：「記得每二十分鐘逐個查看呀！」
It's basically free these days to have a conversation over the internet, and with a webcam a video conversation becomes very straightforward. If you really like to, you can arrange to see and chat with your loved one(s) around the clock despite the tyranny of distance. My parents just can't live without it ever since I moved out! A bonus since using the internet for conversations is that I've had plenty of occasions to talk with many of my friends who are doing the same. It's really unimaginable in the past.
Even for those who never use the internet for conversations, the price of long distance phone calls is falling all the time. A phone call lasting 15 to 20 minutes will easily cost less than a can of Coke! When I phone up my relatives, they usually like to end by saying, 'I shouldn't bother you for too long; long distance phone calls are expensive.' That may be true in the yesteryears, but now it's nothing more than a somewhat outmoded cliché.
Recently one of my friends introduced me to Facebook, and it's just another world out there. Many of my other friends are already subscribed to Facebook and use it as another private e-mail account. But the real gem of Facebook is that it's an easy way to find and re-establish 'long-lost' contacts. Within a month of signing up, there are already quite a few friends from school and university days who have linked up with me. And when I look up their list of friends, I've found out many more whom I haven't contacted for ages. It'd be nice to say hello to them all, when I have time.
But alas, time is the main problem here. There are now so many channels to communicate, and it's only a matter if you have the time to check and reply to them all. A couple of weeks ago, I exchanged my contact details with a colleague who is about to leave. I remarked how easy it was nowadays to stay in touch, 'I have two gmail accounts, another e-mail account, work e-mail, MSN, Skype, and now Facebook. I just have to keep track of them all.' He jokingly replied, 'Just remember to check them every 20 minutes!'
現今科技，其中最造褔人群之一，就是通訊愈來愈方便、愈來愈多方法。特別對旅居海外的人來說，跟家人及朋友保持聯絡是容易得多了。
現在上網通話，基本上是免費的，如果安裝了網絡攝影機，更可以視像通話，要「朝夕相對」，絕非難事，父母對此愛不釋手。我的舊同學和朋友，很多也會上網通話，有時我也會跟他們閒聊，這是從前怎樣也想像不到的。
就算沒有上網通話，打長途電話也愈來愈划算，講十五、二十分鐘，比喝一罐汽水還便宜，跟親戚通電話，他們的「收場白」，通常都是：「電話費貴，不耽誤你了。」此話從前倒是千真萬確，今天聽來祇是一句有點過時的客套說話了。
最近有朋友介紹我用Facebook，又開拓了新一個聯絡途徑，原來其他朋友早已「入會」，當作另一個私人電郵信箱使用，但Facebook最大的功能，就像畢業紀念冊，用了一個月，陸續有昔日中學和大學同窗「找上門」，有時我也查看其他人的友人名冊，發現更多久無聯絡的人，有空真想跟他們在Facebook打個招呼。
不過，時間正是個大大問題，這麼多聯絡渠道，祇怕你不夠時間逐一翻閱、答覆，早陣子跟一個行將離職的同事交換聯絡資料時，我苦笑道：「要找我不難呀，我現在有兩個gmail帳戶、另一個電郵帳戶、辦工電郵、MSN、Skype，現在還加上Facebook呢，真得一眼關七！」他跟我開玩笑說：「記得每二十分鐘逐個查看呀！」
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