4 ms·
Because every Mac laptop and iMac for the past ~3 (?) years has shipped with a built-in camera. edit: To be clear, "huge" is relative, it's a big deal for the
by tvon 16y ago
Because every Mac laptop and iMac for the past ~3 (?) years has shipped with a built-in camera.
edit: To be clear, "huge" is relative, it's a big deal for the potential legitimacy of Facetime since the potential user base just grew quite a bit.
- mike-cardwell 16y agoAll those people can use Skype. Skype is a more well known brand than FaceTime currently. Plus they can Skype their Windows buddies, but they can't FaceTime them. What was with the multiple references to a "FaceTime Camera" anyway? I'm assuming it's not FaceTime only. I wouldn't call my Macbooks cam a "Skype Camera" either...
- tvon 16y agoThey can still use Skype, and "something else is better known" has never been a reason not to introduce an alternative. And what you're seeing is branding. It used to be an iSight camera, now it's a FaceTime Camera.
- mike-cardwell 16y ago"has never been a reason not to introduce an alternative" If you read what I wrote again, you'll notice how I never suggested anything of the sort.
- tvon 16y agoAh, I got the impression you were saying "why FaceTime if there is Skype".
- eli 16y agoBut iChat has already done video conferencing on macs for some time, right? (Not to mention skype.) So this is different because it can also connect to iPhones, provided the iPhone user is on WiFi. Doesn't seem too useful to me. Now, if they announced that Facetime would work over the cell network, at least that would be something new.
- tvon 16y ago> So this is different because it can also connect to iPhones (...) That's exactly why I think it's a big deal. There are already techs/apps/whatever that let people video chat and video chat with phones, but Apple has a pretty good track record at exposing this kind of thing in a way such that non-techies actually use it.
- eli 16y agoVideo chat with people who have new iPhones and are connected to WiFi is a thing lots of people want to do?
- tvon 16y agoI'm speaking in terms of FaceTime as a feature of the iPhone. As an iChat/OSX feature it is not remarkable, but as a iPhone 4 feature, you now have a significant pool of people you can now video chat with that you couldn't before (through Facetime).