That's crazy-backwards. The IMs are 1kBit of data, whereas a phone call (considering voice coding at 16kBit/s for skype-ish quality) probably amount to megabyt

That's crazy-backwards. The IMs are 1kBit of data, whereas a phone call (considering voice coding at 16kBit/s for skype-ish quality) probably amount to megabytes of data having to go at near-realtime rates. It's good that they're still in business, I suppose.