Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Monday, 05 May 2008 15:54
Opinion and Analysis
Page 1 of 2
No, Skype haven’t invented the world’s first “perpetual motion”
machine, but instead have recruited an Australian travel writer to
traverse the world through 15 countries without stopping – even when
sleeping! The aim? To show Skype can be used anywhere and on the move.
Will they succeed?
Billed as the “longest human product demo in perpetual motion for 33 days”, Skype has embarked on a daring project to “create a live, worldwide, human demonstration of how Skype can now be used anywhere and on the move.”
The person brave enough to accept Skype’s challenge is Australian writer Rebecca Campbell, now dubbed ‘The Nomad’. She’s set to “embark on a 33 day round-the-world trip across 15 countries including China, Australia, US (including the state of Alaska), Italy and Estonia.”
As with any “reality” type event, which this seems to qualify as, not that Skype is specifically promoting it as such, there is “a twist”. Campbell “must remain in ‘perpetual motion’ for her entire journey – always moving, even when she’s sleeping”. It even means she needs to be moving when eating – one meal in Singapore will take place in a revolving restaurant!
Skype aren’t making Campbell’s journey easy, but they are making it quite an adventure. She is to use “as many forms of transport as possible to complete her journey, from planes, trains and automobiles to hot air balloons, dog sleds and bum boats.”
The “reality” aspect comes in with “The Nomad” needing to share her trip live on the Internet as she travels, sayeth the Skypesters, and she’ll be fully kitted out with “a variety of Skype-enabled gadgets”, including the 3 Skypephone, the Nokia N810 Internet Tablet and presumably others as pointed out by Campbell on Skype’s ‘Mobile’
page, which also features the Sony PSP.
Campbell’s
blog is already live with some pre-trip comments, and will be updated regularly. You’ll find links there to her Facebook and MySpace pages.
Interested Skype users can also contact Rebecca on Skype – her Skypename is “theskypenomad”, and Skype are encouraging interested parties to “give her insider information on the countries she is visiting.”
Monday the 5th of May, 2008 is the day she starts, and she appears to be starting from the UK, so at the time of publication there is only a few hours to go before The Nomad sets off on an incredible journey.
Please read onto page 2 for more details!
