'Apple’s iChat AV and iSight deliver powerful audiovisual communication of the fly'  




"[It's] almost as good as being there: Apple’s iChat AV and iSight deliver powerful audiovisual communication of the fly," Jon Udell writes for InfoWorld. "As a youngster I visited the Bell Telephone Pavilion at the 1964 World's Fair and saw the AT&T Picturephone. A photo from that erashows a boy about the age I was then. I know just what he was thinking: "When will this get real?" The answer would have surprised us both. Although the moon landing would happen just five years later, casual and routine use of the Picturephone was 40 years away. So last summer's arrival of Apple's killer iChat AV/iSight combo was a bit of an anticlimax. But the implications are starting to sink in."

Udell writes, "Recently Antarctica Systems founder and CTO Tim Bray realized that if he hooked up a spare Mac and digital video camera in his home, his Mac notebook could call it from any Wi-Fi hotspot in the world. He summed up on his Weblog: 'Costly and voice-only, or free with a picture. I think this is what an inflection point smells like.' True, although I'm tempted to say, 'Shh! Don't wake the sleeping regulatory giant!' ...And if, like me, you would often rather be heard than seen, note that iChat AV turns any OS X-capable Mac into a credible VoIP [voice over IP] device. We can all relate to lower phone bills."
 

Posted: Sat - January 10, 2004 at 07:41 PM        

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