I haven't read the link, but Kevin and I will be doing a Zoom meeting on Thanksgiving with our sister, nieces, and other relatives in Texas. It's mainly the idea of one niece.

We will be driving to Cathedral City from L.A. on Thanksgiving Day but should be there by noon, Pacific Time, which is only two hours earlier than Central Time.

I've never done a Zoom meeting, and so this will be new for me. Perhaps I should practice with Kevin before we go. I have earbuds with a microphone that I can use with my laptop, but I don't know whether that is necessary or not.

Our meeting will last a lot less than 40 minutes, I can be sure.

Yes, Lars, it's probably a good idea to practice.

I paid the $$ so that the meetings I schedule don't have a time limit...it was $10/month for the first year. I figured I'm saving a lot more than that just on gas.

Am I missing something? As far as family calls go is there something extra with Zoom over Skype? We never have a time limit and do group family calls on occasion although most of the time prefer one on one. It's hard to concentrate on anyone else when our granddaughter is on screen ;-)

That 40 minutes limit is a blessing for some family meetings.

There's nothing special about Zoom, all the platforms are roughly the same. Skype is terrific but requires free joining first

There's also Google Meet. Only one Gmail user is required, get an account if you don't have one. Start a meeting, indicate an email address or addresses to send invites to (can be an email on any provider because the email contains a link that opens a browser) and talk for hours if you want. Free.

Apple to Apple device video calls can use Apple talk. Free with no time limit.

We use all without preference, all do the same thing

PS

Whatsapp also does video calls but uses Smartphones. It works well too, free and no time limit. We use that with some people abroad.

I admit I have never used zoom or any other such platform. I was invited to join a virtual bingo zoom meeting with my siblings to surprise my mom on mother's day. But as I was coming off my 11th 12 hour night shift in a row because of the other night minions absence,and they refused to submit to my request that it be held at a reasonable hour, I declined.

Luckily as a simple night minion,my illustrious presence is not required at any sort of work related meeting,so to be honest while I am aware of the technology involved, I have never explored it. I imagine it is fairly straightforward to use.

If there was a time limit, i am sure some people think that it was nice of zoom to lift it for the holiday. I am also sure some people are cursing them and hoping no one in their family knows about it. Its a good way back to peace and solitude: "Oh dear. Looks like our time is almost up! Darn it! See ya at Christmas!"

We did a Zoom with DH’s family on for a sibling’s birthday. There were, I think 9 screens, each with 1-4 people. I think one person should be the leader, or master of ceremonies. We had a few moments where no one was talking, or too many people were talking. But, it sure was nice to SEE everyone.

Zoom is quite different from Skype because of the multiple screens.

The Skype site says that a group session can be done with up to 50 people, and multiple screens are shown. I've been on a number of Zoom sessions and I have to say I don't get what people find so whizbang about it. It's same old, same old, and more restrictive and difficult to use than the alternatives.

Here's a screen capture from the Skype site. Click on the image to enlarge

Well, I do zoom because that's what I know. We use it for book groups, yarn group, WW meetings, line dancing and my retirees luncheon. I also use it for gatherings with friends and family as it's what I know, and it's what we're all familiar with. Good to know that skype is an alternative.

Skype is losing out to Zoom because of reliability and apparently is being phased out by Microsoft:

"...ability to connect to calls without any friction is also partly why Zoom has succeeded where Skype has failed: many of Zoom’s millions of new users are less tech-literate and simply want something to work – which Skype can no longer guarantee. “That’s what really was one of the great things about Skype. It just worked,” says Malik. “And now Zoom just works. They have security issues and user interface challenges, but compared to everyone else it’s so much easier to use.”

How Skype Lost its Crown to Zoom

Well for my purposes, which is video calls to my son in CO, son, DIL and DGD in WA, skype has worked. I'm not setting up calls/meetings with tons of people at a time because that's not how I want to talk to my loved ones. But a business meeting is obviously a different animal. The only issues we've had with connectivity is with our son on the peninsula in WA because they live in a somewhat remote area but most of the time it's fine. Does Zoom require a pre-set meeting time or can you just make a 'phone call' to someone?

I had bought Citrix GoToMeeting right before the pandemic to use with our nonprofit board but it was a bear; never did figure out how to actually hold meetings. Zoom OTOH is wildly popular because it's wildly simple to use LOL. I have a paid subscription and use it frequently for both 'business' (volunteer) and personal meetings.

One caution: especially with extended free time usage Thanksgiving is likely to find the system overwhelmed. That happened to us on Mother's Day when Zoom kept dropping our family gathering.