Show of hands –> Who has a webcam?
We received our webcam as a gift way back in August 2005 from my sister-in-law. Unfortunately, we’ve never had much use for it. Why? Not that many people have one. You would think in this day and age of widespread availability of hi-speed broadband internet coming into the house, more people would be using video chat applications, and frequently too. Instead, we know maybe three other people besides us. Furthermore, your options to connect with someone is limited to using an IM client, such as MSN Messenger, AOL Messenger, or Yahoo Messenger. Even then, AOL and Yahoo display only choppy video, and while MSN is lesser of the three evils, no one uses it.
Logitech released a new (and free to download) video chatting application called Vid. I think it’s less altruism, and more “we can sell more webcams.” I tried it out with my Dad this evening, but the quality is….. well, piss poor. Choppy video and audio that cut in and out. Sigh. I’ve already uninstalled it. Better luck next time.