Techno-Dummy

I have never claimed to be knowledgeable where technology is concerned--which some of you already know. I've screwed up our universal remote for our TV/satellite dish; didn't know that there are different kinds of USB cords; waited two years after getting a digital camera before I attempted to use it. The girls had to teach me how to text message, and Katie or Fred still silence my cell phone for me in movie theaters.
Before my friend Mary moved to China a month ago, she told me that we'd be able to talk to each other for free on our computers using Skype. All I needed to do was download the Skype program, get an ID, and wait for us to be online at the same time--not really a problem with the exactly 12-hour time difference.
I was really excited the weekend before last when Mary appeared on Skype and dialed my computer! I answered the call and could hear her "Hello there!" as clear as a bell from the other side of the world. I started talking and she asked, "Cheryl? Can you hear me?" Well, yeah, I could hear her plain as day, but she obviously couldn't hear me. Skype also lets you instant message, so I sent her an IM that apparently my microphone wasn't working. She continued telling me about everything going on there while I frantically tried to figure out what was wrong. I tried the control panel, settings, anything with the word "audio" in the description. Nothing. I spoke loudly into anything on my 2-year-old laptop that looked like it could be a built-in microphone. "MARY?? CAN YOU HEAR ME??" She continued to soliloquize about the hot humid weather and the girls' adjustments to their new schools. Finally I gave up, telling her in an IM that I would dig up my Dell owner's manual and solve the microphone problem so we could converse next time.
Well--it turns out that my computer does not have a built-in mike! I'd just assumed--(which makes an ass out of me)--that any newer computer has one. DUH.
A trip to Wally World and $8.88 later, I had a new microphone and was all set for Mary's next appearance online. I even did a practice audio recording to make sure it worked!
Yesterday I had a 45-minute chat with my dear friend--and she has a computer with a built-in webcam so I could even see her!! At first it kind of looked like she didn't have teeth, but then it got better.
I am totally awestruck by the capabilities of today's communication technology! Who are the brainiacs that come up with this stuff?! It's way beyond anything that goes on in my head; I can barely even use it, let alone think it up! But I will enthusiastically enlist Skype to keep in touch with Mary--and Katie, too, when she goes to Ireland next semester. I'm going to wait on investing in a webcam, though. Not even my BFF needs to see what I look like first thing in the morning!