It is amazing how lazy we can be when it comes to technology. And when I start feeling guilty about this – I check myself... and think about the big promise of... “technology is suppose to make our lives easier.”
In this instance its about video conferencing. There are some really good (and free) applications out there that make it easy to do video conferencing (Skype, Apple’s iChat – quality is probably the best – and some really cool upstarts that are making it easy to quickly video chat when you are in applications like Facebook or on someone’s blog.)
But when you get “older” and you find yourself trying to squeeze every last drop out of every last second of the day and come Sunday night at 6pm when you are spent... the thought of calling the other person to see if they want to video chat, walking over to the computer, logging on, opening up the app, etc.... is not that appealing (Yes – I know life is tough). Which got me thinking that the winner in the consumer video conferencing game just might be our friends at the cable/satellite companies (and the companies that provide the enabling technologies).
On that Sunday night - chances are the TV is on (even if you are not watching it). And when the phone rings – the TV flashes the Caller ID with the option of “Do you want to do a video call?” appears - The cable/sat companies are already providing the caller ID flash on the TV – so I will be eager to see when this comes to fruition. The size will be better than a postage stamp, I can easily ‘flick’ the remote, and I might not even have to get up from the couch.
1 comment:
Rick - don't discourage me too much. I'm trying to get educators to create relevant learning environments with technology - this should motivate students, not get them moving from the couch less often....
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