Category: Safe Haven
Hi all,
I've been thinking about this off and on, but when I bring this up to people who only like voice chat, and don't like text chat, they just act like I'm weird and give me the cold brush off. When I first started out on the internet, I did strictly voice chat. I did voice only, for several years, then I was on an email list corresponding back with someone, and they started talking about accessible chat, and I asked what it was, and was bemoaning the fact that paltalk didn't work as good when they upgraded it to the latest version. He suggested I download the accessible chat program, and I said, well, I don't know, it's text chat, and I don't think i'd like text chat. He said it was a good program and to try it. So I did, and actually, I like text chat better in rooms than I do voice chat, because there could be several conversations at once, and I could just concentrate on whoever was chatting to me, and just tune the other conversations out. It can't be done with voice chat though, since only one person can talk at a time, and if there at least 3 or 4 who get totally caught up in their conversation and forget anyone else is there, and if there're 11 people in the room, forget it. I find I can text chat for a few weeks on end, then it's nice to have one or 2 voice chats, then I can go back to text chat again. Any thoughts?
wonderwoman
well, i've never been in a voice chat where there a lot of people in the room. but i was with one person, and it's pretty cool. i think in voice chat, things don't get misinterpreted as much as they can on the computer.
I say voicechat hands down, because you can't put a face to the person with text chat at all, I know from experience having done text chat far too long.
Well I like voice chat a lot because you can actually trust the person on the other end, in that they can't say "i'm sixteen," when they're seventy lol. You'd be able to tell. So you cant' exactly get anyone lying to you. I also haven't found as many creepy people on voice chat as I have on text chats. I'll do text chat, but not as much. I like IMing and doing things with people I know in text, but with stragners, I find it kind of boring, if you can't put a face to the person who's speaking. Or rather a voice? I don't know? But yeah. In short, they're both good, but I like voice more, in the long run.
Caitlin
Well, I like voice chat best when its just me and one or 2 other people. I see what you mean Acosha about things getting misinterpreted in text chat, because you can't hear a persons tone of voice, but I've been in at least one or 2 confrontations where I was relieved I couldn't hear the voice at the other end. I am really voice sensitive, and pick up on the slightest tone, and in voice, when a person is in a mean nasty mood, their voice goes all through me. In text, you can't always necessarily tell how mad someone is unless he or she puts punctuation between their words, then jaws can really make the person sound mean and mad, lol. So I think text chat is good for some things, and voice chat is good for some things too. I get a kick out of hearing a persons voice after I've text chatted with them for a while. Sometimes I am so shocked, because I get an impression of how I think a persons voice will sound by the way they come across in text, then when I hear their voice, I get so totally shocked. I don't know why, people's voices seldom if ever match the personality that comes across in text, but I get a shock sometimes anyway, lol.
wonderwoman
I agree with you completely, Wonderwoman. Text and voice chat are both good, for different things.
Caitlin
I also get a kick out of hearing a person from text chat's voice for the first time. Heehee...
Caitlin
Well I really got a shock twice after hearing a persons voice after texting with them. There was one woman I use to talk to, and since she had this don't make waves type of personality, and believed in doing anything to avoid any unpleasantness, I figured she'd have a tiny little voice, and it was a bit louder than I expected. Then there is a young boy I talk to, and I wasn't too shocked when i hear d his voice, his personality matched his voice pretty much, but I had expected his mom to have a rough tough voice, and she has a tiny soft voice. I was so shocked, my mouth was wide open.
wonderwoman
Heehee wonderwoman, that's pretty funny. Well usually I meet people first on Voice Chat, but sometims when I don't, like in teh case with some zoners, and I hear their audio profiles, it's a shock.
Caitlin
Yeah I got that kind of shock with one persons audio profile on here. It was someone I had trouble with on another program, and when i heard his audio profile, I got one of the biggest shocks of my life.
wonderwoman
I agree with yall about being shocked in hearing people's actual voices and them not being like you thought they would be.
Heheh yeah, the audio profiles feature is fun for just that reason. I love listening to them. I wonder who'll win the profiel contest.
Caitlin
Hmm I don't know, I like both text and voice chat, really depends on the time of the day, my mood, who I'm talking to ETC..sometimes I could be talking to a person all day yet in the evening even though I just text talked to them I'll feel like giving them a phone call or talking on 1 of the voice chat progs or whatever. Although, if I meet someone new and I get interested in them, I would like to hear what they sound like. I also can relate to surprise of what soeone sounds like, I guess we all have some sort of imige of a person when we text of what they might sound like and sometimes it's totally different from what we thought.
Yeah. Sometimes I just feel liek texting, others I feel like voice chatting. Depends.
Caitlin
well, I still voice chat, although I'm not chatting now as much as I use to. I just don't like being totally dependent on voice chat, at least not in rooms anyway, because depending on who's in a room, who's talking, and how many people there are, it can be hard to get the mic, and it becomes a competition of who gets the mic next, and with more and more broadband users, and some of us still being on dial up, me included, someone else will always get it before me, haha.
wonderwoman
I like both but voice chat is cool. There's a advantage to it as well. You can get a feel for what the person sounds like and another thing is when you hear their voice sometimes you can decide rather if that person on the other end of the keyboard is lieing about their age, sex, etc. or not.
Troy
I've been on the internet for about six years and for me, it was purely text chatting up until not long or so ago. Even when I could do it a little with dialup, it was evil! .. Cos I spent way way too many years with msn (and icq for a while), I now get bored of it rather easily. and while I use to be OK with multiple convvos, I can't seem to keep up now cos I have changed a little over the past few years in that I only like good conversation with real friends (as oppose to small talk with acquaintenses). .. for that reason and the earlier explain msn-boredness, I seem to prefer voice chatting, but only with friends. eg. I can not stand people calling me on skype just to meet me. msn/text messages are better for a while til I get to know them, but now I have got to the stage where I don't authorize requests on skype unless they message me and tell me who they are. even then I am choosy.
so .. i guess .. lately it's been voice chat for me but then sometimes I am more for text, so yeah .. largely depends on moods in the end i guess. .. interesting question though.
Hi rdfreak,
Nice to see you in here. Anyways, it seems sometimes with msn messenger, if you can't make the connection with voice chat, it just seems like too much trouble. I will try to make a voice chat connection a couple of times, but if we just keep trying and trying, and it doesn't work, I lose patience with it very quickly, sometimes I can voice chat on msn messenger, and sometimes I can't, and usually the other person wants to think it's all on your end, even if it could be something else. I have heard a lot about skype, but I think it's just like all the messenger services, where people just seem to want to add contacts strictly for bragging rights, or to use you as a substitute psychiatrist, or use you for free tech support you aren't qualified to give, or rather I'm not qualified to give. I like hearing people's voices, but another thing with text chat, text chat doesn't care how slow your connection is, and you don't have to deal with break up hassles. I have little or no patience with computer problems, and I don't even want to think about the problem being on my end. I wouldn't know what to do about it if it were.
wonderwoman
Yeah there can be breakup on Voice Chat, even on DSL, but sometimes, if you're with friends or just having a blast, it's worth it. I really love Skype, it works really well, and once you get used to it, it's very accessible. I've heard about people getting stragne calls, but if you don't give out your username, I dont' think that will really happen as much. Plus you have to answer calls and authorize contacts, so it's not that easy to get a call you don't want. Wonderwoman, you may enjoy Skype, although I don't know if it will work well on Dialup, and navigating it takes some getting used to. But lots of peopel have it today, and it's cool. Apart from using MSN Messenger, where else have you voice chatted, anyone? I go to ACB Radio's Our Plac,e Audio-Tips, Cyber Speaker, etc. I've heard of For The People, but haven't joined.
Caitlin
Hi Caitlin,
Well, my computer doesn't even begin to meet even minimum system requirements for skype.I think minimum requirements are, a 500 mhz processor, 256 mb of ram, and probably at least 1 gig of free disk space, though I'm not sure of that.
As for where I've chatted, I've been on for the people, but I was unhappy there, and didn't care for the way things were run, but that discussion is probably better another day, on another board, not sure which board would be best for that, but oh well. I've been on audio tips, the speak easy room on acbradio. I've used paltalk, but it wasn't as good when they upgraded it to 5.0. I've been on some irc servers with the bofhnet program, and freedom chat for a while, and accessible chat. I have ventrillo still, but most of the serversare for broadband users, or the servers seem to be down, and by the time I find a server suitable for dial up, no one is there, so there's my chat experience. Oh yes, I've been in some of the yahoo chat rooms, but couldn't find any friendly people on there, so I gave up on that.
wonderwoman
I have used yahoo for years ande always get imed and such but as far as voice verses text i must say both because if i had a microphone i would voice chat and text at the same time aim chats are filled with bots marketing sex but if you put them on ignore they'll go away and msn is completely inaccessible right now yahoo you have to work with it but people do talk to you if you go in the game rooms and the teen rooms or some of the other user rooms
Hi Metalic_girl,
Well, I'm too old for the teen rooms, 45, and I've never been really in to the game sceen, but I have gotten started with some of the games on the uk audio network, none of which I'm good at, because they're quizes, and I'm not brainy or knowledgeable enough for most of those, and I have gotten to hangman and anagram mania, which I prefer anagram mania over hangman, because there isn't any time limit, well a 24 hour limit, until they change to the new word, but I've gotten a lot of words, although I'll never stay in the top 5 for more than a few minutes. I think games on sighted sights are inaccessible for us anyway, and the thought of playing with other people seems rather stressful to me, unless it would be my mom, or someone I've talked to for a long time.
wonderwoman
Wonderwoman, I just joined For-The-People, and if it's good, I'll let you know and maybe you'll come back. I've heard it is okay, but cliquy, where everyone has their established friends and such. Again, like you said, this is probably better suited for anotehr board. But yeah. I'm also on AudioTips, ACB and FC and all that, at times. But mostly on here and AIM. I never go into chat rooms other than voice ones and FC, because I know that there are creeps out there only after spamming and inappropriate conduct, harrasssment etc. Lol.
Caitlin
Hi Caitlin,
Yes, it's very cliquish. There are even a few snobs on audio tips, but not really that many. If someone really wants to talk to me on ftp, I will go in a private room for 2, but I don't anticipate ever going back in the public rooms again. I hope you enjoy your stay though. Just because I eventually didn't find it a pleasant place, doesn't mean other people won't.
wonderwoman
I prefer voice chat, but I do a lot more text chatting than I do voice chatting. Part of the reason for this, I think, is that it's easier to multitask for me when I'm only text chatting. However, when voicing, people get to hear my emotions... my rather odd laugh, and my... um, growl. Yes, I like my growl... I don't care if you're a stranger or someone I've known for years, I'll voice chat with you. Well, I don't always have time to help people learn English on skype (yes, I've gotten calls like that), but I'll help them over ICQ. Probably because I'm a spelling freak, and I can fix spelling in text chats.
Grhrhrhrhrhrowlhlhlhlhlhlhll! Go Tyrhrhrhrhhrr! Lol. Your growl is funny. I'm apt to agree with Tyr on the multi-tasking bit. I like voice chat, but I have to be in the mood, and not have anything else to do, other wise I find it somewhat of a hindrance.
Caitlin
Both really. Sometimes I prefer to text chat and sometimes I wanna voice chat. The program I use for both are either Messenger or GCN (Global Communications Network) on my website. I use text chatting when I'm in a room that prefers quietness or I want my privacy. Voice chatting is good for when I want to talk to someone instead of having to pay for long distance calls or toll charges.
Well, I don't remember if I've said this already, but I've been in at least 2 situations, where I was glad it was text chat, and I couldn't hear the other persons' voice.
As for gcn, I was very let down, when it didn't work for me, your screen resolution has to be set by 10024 pixels, or whatever, anyway it has to be on the highest setting, but if I adjust my pixel settings, jaws doesn't read as well for me, and when you go in the main gcn window, it keeps bugging you, trying to make you readjust your pixel setting, and I have to keep hitting alt f4 for what seems like a hundred times before it gives up and leaves me alone. Plus I have to read text with the jaws cursor, and it's in multiple colums, so it's very difficult, and I don't think it reads it all, and those continuous rotating ads, grrr! They don't even come up in a new window, but they keep all flowing in the same window, so I have to open them up in a separate window, just to close them, or exit out of the room window and keep coming back in. If it weren't for these issues I have with it, it would be a neat program, and there isn't anyone on it I know anyway. My user name has long since expired on it I'm sure, but I was wonder on there, for the short time I used it.
wonderwoman
Have never heard GCN, but have heard good things about it. A friend of mine tried it with a screenreader and it didn't really work? But that was like a year ago.
Caitlin
Well, ifit were more doable, it would be a great program. You can voice chat or text chat. It's text chat by default, but I think the host of the room has to activate room voice, because when I'm in a room and press the keystroke for it, if nobody else is using it, it doesn't work. I don't know, if 2 people are in the room voice, if other people could text chat still or not. But you could do either, and you could do peer to peer chat, which is like a telephone, but you could invite other people to the voice chat. Unfortunately, when I tried to have a peer to peer chat I didn't make it well at all. I could hear the other person, but I broke up badly, and when I pressed the space bar to talk, I could hear a chug chugging sound, like a motor boat. I don't know if the room voice would've worked any better for me. I created a room there, and called it wonder's clean house, but there was no one to come in it. Unless you have a lot of folks you know on it, it doesn't seem to be any point in being on it. It wasn't very blindness friendly, or people friendly for me. I think people who can use magnifiers and braille displays can use it better than those of us who have to depend on jaws, or at least it's been my experience.
wonderwoman,
catalin, go to my profile on here the zone, then click on my website url. Then click on chat and the link to the blindvi cobrand version can be downloaded and installed. A friend of mine is gonna show the program to a few jfw users who do coding and see if there any needed.
Cool BlindVI I'll check it out.
Caitlin
good luck with gcn Caitlin. Hope you have better luck with it than I did.
wonderwoman
Personally, I like text chat best, mostly because i have dialup and therefore its harder to do voice chat, especially with the Zone's server.
I know exactly what you mean Niblit, I can't use the Ventrilo server on here, because I'm on dial up, and since the majority is catered to, they set it up for broad banders again, so you can't use it if you are on dial up. I'd have to upgrade my ventrilo, and if you upgrade to the newest version, you can't connect to older servers, and if you keep an older version, you can't connect to newservers. I hardly ever get on Ventrilo, because most of the servers are for broadband users, or I keep getting the can't connect to server message, and when I do find a server i can connect to, there's usually no one there.
wonderwoman
Well, on the Zone's Ventrilo server, I dunno if you two are able to get on due to versions of Ventrilo, but if you do get on. On the Zone's server, tehre's a channel for people on Dial-Up, and I know of several ZOne users wanting to get on Ventrilo, but they have dialup. SO maybe you all could chat in there?
Caitlin
I hadn't heard anything about a room on there being for dial up users, we'll have to find out about that from j-squared. What type of room is it? I mean is it in the anything goes category, or is it in the category where they don't allow foul language?
wonderwoman
As of right now, it's a channel on the server called "Laggers and Idlers ... go in ehre if you're lagging duh ..." or something like that. It's not reserved for foul language exemptions, though. Maybe that could be arranged--a room for dialup users that is safe havenish?
Caitlin
Well, I suppose it depends on who's in there, but if I do upgrade my ventrilo and decide to try it, maybe I can just go in there and have a few conversations, then when people come in who I know that use that language, then I could just leave quickly.
wonderwoman. I don't want to press my luck, you know?
Well, I like text chat over voice chat because when you voice chat, other people in the household will hear what you're saying and there's a chance they will evesdrop. Also, a microphone is required for voice chat, and I don't have the money for that right now. And text chat is limited to quick notes since the numerous times getting msn messenger have failed.
darn, i started to post a nice long reply to this and found i was not logged in, gee, I sooo hate it when that happens. Interesting to see this topic again. sindce i started this topic, I have gotten a new computer, which is a year and a half old now, and I've been on broad band for going on 8 months now. I have gone back to for the people, but I stay in joes' diner, because no clliques, including the moderators have staked it out. I enjoy talking to newbies now more than people who have been on the sites for years, because they haven't had time to get in a clique yet, and are mostly just looking for anyone to chat with. Skype works much better now, since I'm on road runner, but I don't have enough people on there to stay logged in all the time, and it can be a bit combersome gertting a call if i'm in a rooom. I mean, I don't want to just not respond to the call if i'm logged in, yet if the person in the r oom is still talking, I don't want to just leave while he or she is still talking either. I've answered a call on skype once or twice while still in a room, and it was kind of chaotic, but funny. the person on skype could hear the person in the chat room without being in the room. I'd tell the person on skype to just hold on a minute, the person was still talking and when they finished, i'd log out of the room. I acted as relay that way between 2 people for about 30 seconds, lol. I'd have to have about 40 or 50 people on my skype sist to stay logged in alll the time, and then i'd probably not go in chat rooms quite as often, maybe once every few weeks or so. I'm not so skype happy as to add everybody just because the program is cool. when i add someone, it's because of th eperson, not the program.
I will add to this post later, because i don't want to find out i got disconnected just as i was about to post.
wonderwoman
I like both text and voice chat, but if i ever get lazy of course, we can go on voice chat. There's something good too in voice chats, you can hear someone's voice, on the other hand, if you want to practice typing then you can go on text chat with some of your friends. Both is okay to use.
I personally like voice chatting. I like to hear what different people sound like and yes it can get busy sometimes but I like talking.
Voice chat sounds good. I might look into getting skype and a microphone sometime.
I like voice and text chat. I don't think that it really matters, in my opinion.
Personally, i feel voice chat is the best one since it's not laborious like text chats, you know.
But as per me, I don't think that I'm not yet ready for that since I'm a very shy person as per the audio chats, you see.
Even i got skype installed with my computer but I'm making use of it for the purpose of file transfers alone.
So, i like voice or audio chat much, for those who are not shy like me.
i like text chat for one important reason. I don't have a mic for my work PC. I'm not allowed to. So I can only text people. Which I prefer anyways. Even on my cell phone I text my friends more than call them. You don't have to be involved with people if you don't actually have to hear their sorry voices. If there's a heavy situation it's easy to avoid in text. Since they have to wait for your response. Chances are they're responding to a few as well so you can take as long as you wish. It's like answering email. you do it whenever you please. Plus you can be more thought out with your responses and prepare your stories even as you're reading. It's harder to do in voice. In voice if you're lying or unsure of what to say it shows. It doesn't show in writing. So even if my work let me have a mic, I'd still prefer texting way more. In fact if all they had out here was voice stuff like audio tips or something, I really wouldn't fit in. So i love quick notes cuz I can turn them on or off, and I love these boards because I can enter and leave as i wish. It's not like entering and leaving a conference and annoying everyone. So voice chat is half ok but text chat is way the hell better. Plus some of you out here i've learned to like a lot better not hearing your voices. Some people I've liked less once I heard their voice. In fact sometimes it ruined it for me. My view on that person or persons completely changed and I realize it was a bad idea to hook up on the phone. Some of you are great writers but lousy voice conversationalists.
I'm not trying to be stupid or anything, but what does laborious mean?
Laborious means requires a lot of work. I like text chat because I don't have to deal with skype calls dropping. I do like the phone though.
I have tried Skype text chat.
The problem I have had with Skype is that if text chat is the only means you have, people only want to voice chat.
I really enjoy Zone bbs because I really like the different choyces as far as voice or text chat goes.
I am really glad that this web site is here for everyone. It is fun to meet and make friends here.
`Talk to you all later.