More Skype Love

I was chatting with Mike in Australia today and we pulled up Skype as we usually do, ’cuz it just works, e.g. no connection problems, no echo/feedback problems, etc. However, we couldn’t get video4skype to work, so we tried switching over to MSN Messenger 7. The video worked just fine from MM7, but the audio was terrible, exhibiting volume, echo and feedback problems. So, we used a hybrid, i.e. MM7 for video and Skype for audio, which worked just fine.

This hybrid model is prevalent in my communications recently:

• queued messaging: email for text and files, vmail for nuance
• text chat: MSN Messenger 7 or Communicator, depending on whether the person is an employee or not
• video chat: MM7 or Communicator
• audio chat: phone, Skype, MM7 or Communicator
• person-to-person app sharing: MM7, Communicator
• group app sharing: LiveMeeting

Would it be too much to ask that one app do all of this well? Do I really need 6 different apps?