Without phones, people would still be using the first method for transmitting international messages: tattooing them on migrating whales. Save cetaceans with today’s Groupon from Skype. Orders are filled by eBuyNow. Choose between the following options:

• For $30, you get one year of unlimited domestic calls, a $10 credit that buys about 400 international minutes, and a Skype-certified phone adapter by Freetalk (a $64.99 value).
• For $30, you get three months of unlimited global calls and a Skype-certified phone adapter by Freetalk (a $59.99 value).

Use of the home-phone adapter necessitates certain system requirements, which clients can view online. Users need a computer to set up the adapter, but not to make calls.

Skype attaches phone adapters to broadband routers, allowing clients to make inexpensive local and national calls from their landline phones. In addition to saving on normal calling, Skype-to-Skype calls are free anywhere in the world, making it easy for users to reach each other and talk smack about ham radio. With the unlimited-domestic-calling plan, callers can play phone-tag free of charge with anyone in the United States or Canada. The included $10 credit allows talkative types to reach countries around the world, so stateside users can talk to Filipinos ($0.139/minute on a landline), Colombians ($0.031/minute on a landline), or Germans ($0.023/minute on a landline) about whether the yellow in their flags represents their national mustard.

For users with talkative friends across the globe, the three months of unlimited global calling reaches the United States, Canada, and 40 other nations around the world. The calls can reach foreign landlines and cell phones alike, allowing U.S. callers to set off Neville Chamberlain's "Benny Hill Theme" ringtone.