We all know what Skype is and we all know we can use it to call anyone on the internet anywhere in the world for free.
The Academy for Psychic Studies figured it out too. Maybe not quite as well as the rest of us, but they figured it out.
You see, they offer psychotic readings on Skype to anyone anywhere in the world with a Skype connection. That's a great display of their interweb awareness and high technology knowledge, right?
Well before you start calling them the next Microsoft, check this out: in order to schedule that psychotic reading, you have to call up on their toll-free line - which only works in the Continental United States.
If you want a psychotic reading from anywhere else (like say, Canada) you are SOL. And so are the leaders of the Academy as those who might have contacted them and paid good money for a psychotic reading can't possibly arrange a reading.
So, why not do it over the regular phone line? Uh, it's called international phone rates and since the academy requires international callers to place the call from their own phone, it's a damn expensive call for those who receive a reading from the trained psychotics. No one from outside the USA calls, even though the Academy craves the attention and revenue those callers can provide.
Of course, it makes perfect sense to have people call up on the phone for a Skype reading - even though Skype is an online PHONE service. I wouldn't expect the Academy would use the webcam feature either. Using a webcam would mean people can see your face and that would mean they could recognize you and if they did, they might stumble upon this blog and they would find out all the things the academy wouldn't want them to know and...
Well, you get the idea.
It's just another example of the technical and business genius of the Witches of Ellsworth - and another great example of how operating on the cheap has a financial return in proportion to your investment.
