A reader asks why I write so regularly about hardware or softwarethat only works with Macs.
It's a fair question: By strict numbers, the Macintosh operatingsystem only represents about 5 percent of the desktop industry'susers. But I put it to you that the Macintosh operating systemaccounts for at least 50 percent of the industry's innovation. Applehas a consistent record of leading the way for everybody else, andwhat's happening with the Mac today is usually a sneak-peek at whateverybody will be using later.
Let's hope that iChat AV is the latest app to influence the waythings are done on Windows. iChat's basic features--AOL and .Mac-compatible text chat and instant messaging with a slick, cleaninterface--have been embroidered with new capabilities for voice andvideo chat.
Normally, when you add features to a product, you just make itdenser and more complicated. But instead, adding voice and video toiChat opens it up. It clarifies iChat's role as a mainstreamcommunication tool. It also finally offers a possible mainstream rolefor videophones and telephony-via-Internet.
Why? iChat AV isn't the first videoconferencing tool, but it's thefirst to flawlessly integrate multimedia into the chat model.
I go a step further, and assert that iChat AV is an improvement onthe telephone itself. What if you picked up your handset, scrolled toa friend's name and photo, and even before dialing you knew that hewas near the phone and had time to talk? What if a ringing phonedidn't mean, "Drop everything, and talk to me right now!!!" butinstead, "I'd like to chat with you about something, but hey, feelfree to finish that piece of fried chicken and wash your hands beforepicking up?"
If that were the case, telephones would become so popular thateventually there'd be one in every home. The fact that you're gettingfree national and international long-distance is gravy.
But phones are boring. IChat's video quality is outstanding: itsfull-screen at near-VHS quality, and with a high frame rate thateliminates the choppy nature of video-over-Internet. The end resultis that iChat AV is the first desktop solution that makes you feellike you're talking face-to-face with a person, instead of a window.
Bad points? None. Well, OK, for the most part you can only videochat with other iChatters, so it's a Mac-only club for now. iChat AVsupports industry-standard protocols, though, so there's nothingpreventing Windows or Linux developers from making their appscompatible. As with the original iChat, AV's text-chat features areecumenical and embrace users of all faiths.
IChat AV works with any microphone (including your Mac's built-in, if it has one) and any FireWire-based camera, though some USBcams will also work with the right third-party driver. You candownload a free iChat AV "public beta" from apple.com. When it'sreceived its final coats of lacquer and chrome, it'll be includedwith the next edition of the Mac OS, due later this year. Foreveryone else, it'll be 30 clams.
Apple released the iSight videoconferencing camera along with thebeta--and once again, Apple engineers show everyone how it should bedone. It plugs into a FireWire port and has a built-in noise-cancelling microphone. Its unique compact tubular shape makes it easyto toss in a laptop bag, too. But Apple engineers made it a truewinner by asking themselves, "What's the single most importantfeature for a camera that sits atop a computer monitor all day?"
The answer, naturally, is the ability to shut the dang thing offand know for sure that it isn't recording anything. If you feelcompelled to do that dance from "Footloose," you can just twist aring on the front and a dense, white shutter--visible from across theroom--irises closed in front of the lens. One glance and you can besure that whatever you do in your office won't wind up on the companyWeb site.
At $150, iSight is pricier than most FireWire cams. But if gettingthe great stuff way before the other guy is one of the twofundamentals of the Mac Experience, then spending more for theprivilege is the other one.
Andy Ihnatko writes on computer issues for the Sun-Times.
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