4 ms·

Video chat. It's been available in asia for ~5 years? yet no one uses it. Will it be different in North America?

by mclin 16y ago

jokermatt999 16y ago
Smart phones were available in the US for ages before the iPhone, yet Jobs' and Apple's star power helped them to become more widespread. The whole "reality distortion field" can be used for good if it's to help spread adoption of interesting technologies, imo. I think the fact that it's coming from Apple will help adoption, even if the implementation is the same or even worse.
- mclin 16y ago
  It's not smart phones that do this legacy video chat, it's 3G feature phones, which are pretty much non-existent in NA. Pretty much every [candybar, flip] phone in asia has 3G and a front facing camera, so you can video call anyone, anytime. Part of the reason people don't is because it costs extra. Actually since these phones were around before youtube and real mobile browsing, the main marketed reason to get a 3G phone originally was video chat.
  - jokermatt999 16y ago
    I honestly did not realize that the adoption of them was that widespread. Thank you for the correction, that definitely does make a difference to my post. Still, don't you think that video chat at no extra cost will be a rather huge innovation? If part of the reason it isn't used is because of the cost, wouldn't make it free help that? I know that video calling isn't necessarily better in plenty of cases, so I don't think it will completely replace voice calls (at least not for a long, long time if at all), but the facts that it's 1) free and 2) has Apple behind it and 3) therefore tons of media hype behind it will help usage (edit: changed from adoption make my meaning clearer) by a large margin?
    - mclin 16y ago
      Yea, who knows. At least it'll set the trend to put front cameras in smart phones. Eventually the capability will spread enough that you can use it when you want, but I suspect that after the novelty wears off people will go back to regular calls, even if it's free. Why? People are really good at perceiving presence even if we can't see someone. It's just not necessary. Think about this: What fraction of time do you spend looking at a person's face in a casual conversation?
      - jodrellblank 16y ago
        "And you can use the rear camera, so they can see what you're seeing"
      - enjo 16y ago
        Not to mention: Are you really going to do video chat while you're walking down the street? Driving in your car (god I hope not)? The 'mobile' in 'mobile phone' seems directly at odds with the whole concept.
        nooneelse 16y ago
        I pretty much agree. With ease and ubiquity it will be very useful for some tasks ("hey honey, which of these lamps do you like better"), and for some "big moment" calls ("this is your new grandson"). So, it can be significant even without being a large fraction of overall calls. Most people like being able to get away with all those little things that the other person can't hear over a phone. Being on camera would seem more stifling/restrictive than freeing in many situations.
    - DrSprout 16y ago
      This really isn't that big of a shift from Skype et al. until it's available on 3G. And you know what? I haven't used a webcam in years. Not an extraordinarily useful piece of technology, and it's still not the best experience even on wired networks (because the wired networks have been frozen in time here in the States.) And as for it being at normal data rates on 3G, I'll believe it when I see it. (It can't be free.)
  - m_eiman 16y ago
    Normal 3G video chat has one disadvantage: the video quality is so bad it makes puppies weep. Most of the time you can't really see who you're talking to unless you already know who it is. It's probably mostly due to bad encoders, and partly lack of bandwidth.
- tcskeptic 16y ago
  Really? The iPhone success is a result of a "reality distortion field"? That is essentially what you are saying, that it has all been a result of smoke 'n mirrors and "star power". But it hasn't. For all of the criticisms you can throw and Apple decisions, the iPhone has been truly revolutionary, and the biggest revolution has been that it is a smartphone that doesn't make the average person want to cry when trying to use it, in fact, it makes the average person giggle with pleasure. That isn't hype, it isn't a reality distortion field, it is the result of real, hard, work.
  - jokermatt999 16y ago
    That's not what I'm saying at all. I'm saying that it can help. Yes, the iPhone is a good product. I understand that's part of the reason behind the fervent love of it. I think that Apple's image can help things succeed. Look at the iPod and the iPad. Who the hell had an MP3 player or a tablet before they came out? Not many people. Apple is good at creating needs and good products where products already existed. I'm not saying their design isn't part of that, I'm saying that their image can certainly help. We don't know enough about this new FaceTime to say it's instantly better than previous products other than the fact that it's free, and gong to be an open standard. Since we can't speak about the design of it, I chose to speak about another factor that could cause it to succeed. Edit: "Reality distortion field" was a horrible choice of words on my part by the way. I meant that Apple's success at marketing would help this product succeed, no matter how the implementation was, not that their implementation will be or has been poor.
  - stcredzero 16y ago
    it has all been a result of smoke 'n mirrors The reasons a lot of things don't happen sooner are often "smoke and mirrors," so it's a fitting remedy.
eli 16y ago
Yeah, I wonder about this too. Granted, the existing technology for video chat is not very good and could certainly benefit from Apple's UI team... but I'm not sure it's something people even want. I'm not sure it's useful. I have the ability to video chat with many of my contacts through Skype or Google Talk yet I pretty much never take advantage of it. Not sure adding that feature to my phone changes anything.
erino 16y ago
If Facetime comes to the iPad, ie. if/when it get's a camera. Then I think we'll see a many more people using video chat.

Video chat. It's been available in asia for ~5 years? yet no one uses it. Will it be different in North America?

by mclin 16y ago

Video chat. It's been available in asia for ~5 years? yet no one uses it. Will it be different in North America?

Smart phones were available in the US for ages before the iPhone, yet Jobs' and Apple's star power helped them to become more widespread. The whole "reality distortion field" can be used for good if it's to help spread adoption of interesting technologies, imo. I think the fact that it's coming from Apple will help adoption, even if the implementation is the same or even worse.

mclin 16y ago
It's not smart phones that do this legacy video chat, it's 3G feature phones, which are pretty much non-existent in NA. Pretty much every [candybar, flip] phone in asia has 3G and a front facing camera, so you can video call anyone, anytime. Part of the reason people don't is because it costs extra. Actually since these phones were around before youtube and real mobile browsing, the main marketed reason to get a 3G phone originally was video chat.
- jokermatt999 16y ago
  I honestly did not realize that the adoption of them was that widespread. Thank you for the correction, that definitely does make a difference to my post. Still, don't you think that video chat at no extra cost will be a rather huge innovation? If part of the reason it isn't used is because of the cost, wouldn't make it free help that? I know that video calling isn't necessarily better in plenty of cases, so I don't think it will completely replace voice calls (at least not for a long, long time if at all), but the facts that it's 1) free and 2) has Apple behind it and 3) therefore tons of media hype behind it will help usage (edit: changed from adoption make my meaning clearer) by a large margin?
  - mclin 16y ago
    Yea, who knows. At least it'll set the trend to put front cameras in smart phones. Eventually the capability will spread enough that you can use it when you want, but I suspect that after the novelty wears off people will go back to regular calls, even if it's free. Why? People are really good at perceiving presence even if we can't see someone. It's just not necessary. Think about this: What fraction of time do you spend looking at a person's face in a casual conversation?
    - jodrellblank 16y ago
      "And you can use the rear camera, so they can see what you're seeing"
    - enjo 16y ago
      Not to mention: Are you really going to do video chat while you're walking down the street? Driving in your car (god I hope not)? The 'mobile' in 'mobile phone' seems directly at odds with the whole concept.
      - nooneelse 16y ago
        I pretty much agree. With ease and ubiquity it will be very useful for some tasks ("hey honey, which of these lamps do you like better"), and for some "big moment" calls ("this is your new grandson"). So, it can be significant even without being a large fraction of overall calls. Most people like being able to get away with all those little things that the other person can't hear over a phone. Being on camera would seem more stifling/restrictive than freeing in many situations.
  - DrSprout 16y ago
    This really isn't that big of a shift from Skype et al. until it's available on 3G. And you know what? I haven't used a webcam in years. Not an extraordinarily useful piece of technology, and it's still not the best experience even on wired networks (because the wired networks have been frozen in time here in the States.) And as for it being at normal data rates on 3G, I'll believe it when I see it. (It can't be free.)
- m_eiman 16y ago
  Normal 3G video chat has one disadvantage: the video quality is so bad it makes puppies weep. Most of the time you can't really see who you're talking to unless you already know who it is. It's probably mostly due to bad encoders, and partly lack of bandwidth.
tcskeptic 16y ago
Really? The iPhone success is a result of a "reality distortion field"? That is essentially what you are saying, that it has all been a result of smoke 'n mirrors and "star power". But it hasn't. For all of the criticisms you can throw and Apple decisions, the iPhone has been truly revolutionary, and the biggest revolution has been that it is a smartphone that doesn't make the average person want to cry when trying to use it, in fact, it makes the average person giggle with pleasure. That isn't hype, it isn't a reality distortion field, it is the result of real, hard, work.
- jokermatt999 16y ago
  That's not what I'm saying at all. I'm saying that it can help. Yes, the iPhone is a good product. I understand that's part of the reason behind the fervent love of it. I think that Apple's image can help things succeed. Look at the iPod and the iPad. Who the hell had an MP3 player or a tablet before they came out? Not many people. Apple is good at creating needs and good products where products already existed. I'm not saying their design isn't part of that, I'm saying that their image can certainly help. We don't know enough about this new FaceTime to say it's instantly better than previous products other than the fact that it's free, and gong to be an open standard. Since we can't speak about the design of it, I chose to speak about another factor that could cause it to succeed. Edit: "Reality distortion field" was a horrible choice of words on my part by the way. I meant that Apple's success at marketing would help this product succeed, no matter how the implementation was, not that their implementation will be or has been poor.
- stcredzero 16y ago
  it has all been a result of smoke 'n mirrors The reasons a lot of things don't happen sooner are often "smoke and mirrors," so it's a fitting remedy.

eli 16y ago

Yeah, I wonder about this too. Granted, the existing technology for video chat is not very good and could certainly benefit from Apple's UI team... but I'm not sure it's something people even want. I'm not sure it's useful. I have the ability to video chat with many of my contacts through Skype or Google Talk yet I pretty much never take advantage of it. Not sure adding that feature to my phone changes anything.

erino 16y ago

If Facetime comes to the iPad, ie. if/when it get's a camera. Then I think we'll see a many more people using video chat.