Imagine being able to record your own voice on the Internet with the use of a phone.

In the USA I have discovered a great website called Yodio. Here you can down load your pictures and then with a phone simply narrate and make any commentary you want on the pictures you took.

First came the tape recorder that was reel to reel, then came the cassette, then came video cameras but if you really stop and think about it where today can you record just your voice. Try going to any store just to buy a recorder or any device to record your voice. Good luck trying to find such a device.

My friend in America once told me that he had a large box in his apartment filled with cassettes. On those devices were the recordings of interviews he held with his grandmother before she died. I thought to myself; what a great idea. He made those recordings about 20 years ago. Every so often he pulls the box out to hear his grandmother’s voice.

When was the last time you had a chance to hear the voices of those you lost? It was once said that the great magician and illusionist Harry Houdini loved his mother. In fact he loved her to death. For weeks after her death, he made almost daily visits to the cemetery, sometimes lying on her grave to speak to her. “My mother was everything to me,” he said in a speech to the Magician’s Club. “It seemed the end of the world when she was taken from me…All desire for fame and fortune had gone from me. I was alone with my bitter agony…” Eventually, Houdini was able to return to work, but he continued to mourn his mother for the rest of his life.
I think Harry Houdini would have paid anything to hear his mother’s voice once again. Funny thing about Americans is that they are so much wanting to find fame and fortune in their own lives that they very people they should be spending time with have long been forgotten. Here in the US you see your cousins, distant cousins and other unknown or less frequently visited relatives either at weddings and if not then at funerals.

Americans spend about 11 billion in US dollars on funerals, but they have no voices to show for it. Most people are lucky just to have old photos of their departed loved ones. I once visited a cemetery after Christmas Day. I was shocked to see hundreds of grave sites with fully decorated Christmas trees, presents and all. Do yourself a big favor, give yourself a present this Christmas and start to record the voice of the ones you love. Where are the simple days of just recording your voice? Sure, you could record your wonderful voice on your cell phone or have someone pull out your video camera and tape you. But, if the truth be told I as a father videotape my kids but no one tapes old dad. So when I pass away my kids will have a stack of DVD’s that show everyone; including our dog, but not me in the picture. That’s because I am the guy behind the camera.

The problem with Yodio is that they promote the website for those who want to download their wedding pictures or travel logs. They are missing the boat. The power of their website isn’t about ramblings of discussing old photos, but it is really giving young and old the power to leave their voices on the web. If you could still hear the voices of your parents or loved ones that are now gone wouldn’t that be awesome. My dad is now gone but I wish I could hear his voice. Now with the advent of the internet and the help of this website you can now do what your parents couldn’t do, leave a voice behind for those you love.

Next time you happen to be visiting your parents or grandparents, hand them the phone because now it is one step closer to that old tape recorder, but this time the tape won’t break because it will stay on the internet as long as Yodio can stay on the net. It is free to record, produce and publish. Until next time see you at the refrigerator, because I keep my phone in the kitchen where I can record and eat at the same time. Check this website out at www.yodio.com.
Write me at AskmeanythingUSA@yahoo.com