Post offices used to get hellish during the holidays, partly from the millions of Christmas cards needed to be sent across the world, partly from the lines of irate customers who had enough to cram in the Christmas countdown without having to worry about packages and postage. And if that wasn’t enough stress, it was practically impossible to get through the phone on Christmas and New Year. Too many people trying to make too many long distance calls, Too many relatives waiting for hours to hear from someone they hadn’t seen in months, going to bed disappointed because the phone company couldn’t handle the load.

Then came the Internet, and Christmas suddenly got a lot easier,

Suddenly you could send a card—complete with music and dancing graphics— through email. Pick a design, type in the address, click on the mouse, and you’re done.

But people complained that e-cards didn’t have that personal touch. Too commercial, too mass produced. It’s very ease took away the meaning, they said, since you could send the same e-card to 25 different people. But then came VoIP. It was easy, it was simple, it was stress free, but it was personal—because how could you get any more personal than a phone call? Plus there was no need to wait hours to get through the long distance operator; no need to buy phone cards and endure spotty connections and atrociously expensive holiday rates.

It was even better than music and dancing graphics, it was an actual conversation, and with minimal cost. Instead of waiting 3 hours to make a 5 minute call it took you 5 seconds to make a 3 hour call.

If only Christmas shopping were just as easy.