Here’s why the videophone is exciting. I’m saying this because we all know immediately why it sucks. It’s exciting to me because I believe it creates a very new kind of conversation. I’m a frustrated English major, I live for conversation. I’m not good at chatting, I yearn to find “the point” in most of my interactions with other humans. So the videophone, by making us confront grainy and unflattering visuals of our friends, is inherently hostile to chatting. So, we try and have conversations (thus far mostly about the videophone itself) but meanwhile our BODIES are doing the chatting. We cannot make eye contact with each other, so we listen to each other’s voices while staring at the way Mac’s shoulder hunches when he stresses a certain word. J.D. flicks his fingers when he’s got several things to say in a row, then abruptly stops, leans back, and makes his face expressionless when I interrupt.
I want to take this further. I want to have these strange visual conversations with my friends while doing physical things that interfere or affect verbal meaning. Like shaving, or reading a magazine. Kris and Aimee tried to do some chatting while J.D. seemingly pranced in the background (or maybe that was just the way JD moves when no one else is around). In response, I stood behind Aimee and lifted up my shirt. Instant voyeurism.
I was fortunate yesterday to actually have something to show people while we were talking. I had made mosaic out of broken shards of tile, so when I felt like we had to show something to each other because our bodies were doing more talking than we were, I ran and got it. I showed it to JD, who was confused. What the hell was this fractured blue square that had suddenly replaced Joel’s ridiculous chin-stroking? JD didn’t know about the mosaic project, so it took some conversation to convince him that, it was okay, the mosaic was a friend, something to be excited about. This was a fascinating moment. Instead of speaking to a three-quarter profile, he was talking to me looking at a grainy image of a somewhat sloppily created piece of home art. I felt like the very first grandma who ever hauled a murky, grainy daguerrotype of little Amos out of her leathern satchel and thrust it unexpectedly at an innocent stranger.

Well said, my friend. You’ve touched upon things that never would have occurred to me.

Videophones, if the technology takes off, could introduce a new fundamental form of communication. It’s strange using one because it borrows elements from communication devices with which we are all familiar — telephones, television, computers — and integrates them into something new, something familiar yet strangely disconcerting.

For example, as I observed to Joel last night, when he holds an object (such as his mosaic) up to the camera and he is obscured from view, my natural reaction is: aha! I cannot see Joel, therefor he cannot see me and, thus, it must be safe to pick my nose. It doesn’t work that way.

And there is something about the videophone that brings about greater exhibitionism, new ways of sharing. Especially for friends and family who are separated by distance, such as Kris and Tiffany, the videophone allows sharing that might not occur often. If Tiffany, for example, gives birth to twins, Kris might not meet them for months or years. Yet, through a videophone, she could see them (and the rest of the family) every day. (I keep thinking that it’d be nice if Paul and Amy Jo were doing this study, too &mash; we could meet their pets, see their house, etc.)

I’m curious to see how Kris’ parents like the videophone. I don’t know how often they visit Tiffany and Richard, but if they do swing by Palm Desert in the next month, we’ll have to arrange a video conversation.

Again, what would really be cool is the ability to do conference calls with the videophone. It’d be great to have a joint call with Dana and Andrew, for example, or with Mac and Joel.

The cool thing is: this videophone technology is available now. I’ll have to check with Debbie, but I don’t think this software is secret. I think it’s out there, in the wild, available for anyone to use. All that’s required is a webcam and a microphone. If this isn’t some top-secret software project, I’ll post a link to the download site in case any of you already have the required equipment and want to join the fun.

I checked with Debbie, and she says that anyone with the proper equipment (webcam and broadband) can download the videophone software from the Interval Media web site.

It’s not likely that many of you out there meet these requirements, but if you do have the proper equipment, and you install the software, give me a buzz. As you might guess, my username is jdroth.

I first want to say that I am not having twins! Not happening, are you taking Mom’s side on the baby issue?

Mom would love this idea. But both Kris and I would find talking to her on a video phone even more annoying then talking to her on a phone. She would be trying to hold up things for up to see and running to get ‘just one more thing’. I do no think that the folks are going to be here this month because I have trips the next few weeks.

I did notice that your inserted phone is much less clear then the image I got of Kris.

The geek in me finds this concept quite appealing, however, the slightly luddite streak in me compels me say that I like the fact that people can’t see me picking my nose when I’m talking to them. As, no doubt, do they. At times I appreciate being a disembodied voice.

Okay, okay, West Wing is a damn fine show.

I think I would prefer the “phone-based” videophone to a “computer-based” one. I just can’t make myself trust computers (or other digital media) to handle sensory data like sound/vision, especially in a “real time” situation like a phone call.

JD,

Using the videophone connection last night worked fairly well, I thought, even if I didn’t have a camera. Did you figure out if it was Mac’s call that caused you to lose audio?

I definitely think you need to suggest the answering machine functionality, though. And some support for interoperability with other software, possibly through a server-based translation from one protocol to another (or client-based support for a wider range of protocols).

Just my suggestions, though. It worked well long hop, sound was good, and sliced through the firewall with no problem from my end. Didn’t even have to reconfigure.

je veux avoir plus d’information sur les videophones