Transition of Long distance communication

What kind of communication tools are being used in long distance communication for people who live apart?

In the last 50 years there has been numerous ways in which people have changed how they communicate over greater distances ; the Internet is most certainly one of them.

Traditionally, face-to-face interaction in the local community was the basis for communication. Yet, today face-to-face meetings are no longer the primary way to communicate between people as one can use a landline telephone or any number of the computer mediated tools such as email, MSN, website phone and Skype.

In recent years, the world has seen an explosion in the growth of information and communication technologies, and particularly mobile communications. Where the mobile became the dominant technology for voice communication (www.thehistoryof.net/history-of-long-distance.html, 14, 12, 08).

Indeed, the mobile phone has moved beyond being a mere technological object to become a key "social object" present in every aspect of our daily lives. Informal communication between friends and family is crucial to personal relationships. We are enthusiastic about e-mail and the mobile phone with its benefits in long distance contact with our relatives. Another common medium today is videoconferencing (commonly referred to as Skype) is also used between people separated geographically. What this suggests is that tools can be designed to provide greater emotional support than phone and e-mail for people staying away from their families