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When Technology Is Heartwarming - (Macintosh iSight)
New York Times - Requires registration ^ | DEcember 4, 2003 | DAVID POGUE

Posted on 12/09/2003 11:36:56 PM PST by Swordmaker

Apple Macintosh and iSight Video Conferencing technology . . . There's a lot of junk in technology, a lot of hassle and frustration, a lot of disappointment. But this moment was like a TV commercial. It was an emotional, powerful, simple, perfect example of how technology can change a moment, solve a problem, and despite the gulf of time and distance, bring you face to face with the people you love.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; Technical
KEYWORDS: apple; ichat; macintosh; macuser; technology; telecommunication; videoconferencing
More from the article:

...The iSight is a compact, tubular, high-quality video camera, about the size of a Hostess Ho-Ho. It has a built-in microphone and lens cover. It has no power cord of its own; it connects to a Macintosh with a single FireWire cable. As long as you both have broadband Internet connections, you and another iSight (or camcorder) owner can conduct a videoconference.

The quality is excellent: smooth motion, full screen if you like, and very little delay. It's absolutely nothing like the crude, jerky, stuttering, massively delayed video you may have tried with cheap Web cams.

1 posted on 12/09/2003 11:36:57 PM PST by Swordmaker
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To: All
How does 30 FPS strike you?
2 posted on 12/09/2003 11:38:10 PM PST by Swordmaker
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To: Swordmaker
From a sorority house? Some folks might call that "content".

:)
3 posted on 12/10/2003 12:01:13 AM PST by cryptical
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To: Swordmaker
Mac Bump!

Tia

4 posted on 12/10/2003 4:29:57 AM PST by tiamat ("Just a Bronze-Age Gal, Trapped in a Techno World!")
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To: Swordmaker
An "I want one" bump.
5 posted on 12/10/2003 4:33:02 AM PST by auboy (I'm out here on the front lines, sleep in peace tonight–American Soldier–Toby Keith, Chuck Cannon)
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To: sourcery; Ernest_at_the_Beach; MacUser
ping
6 posted on 12/10/2003 7:17:51 AM PST by Libertarianize the GOP (Ideas have consequences)
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To: Swordmaker
My brother and I have been using iSights for video chats. They work great - like we're sitting and talking in the same room.
7 posted on 12/10/2003 10:36:56 AM PST by HAL9000
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To: Swordmaker
Let me guess: Apple invented the Webcam. All these damn pretenders like Logitech and Intel must have ripped them off.... /SARCASM
8 posted on 12/10/2003 10:58:50 AM PST by Bush2000 (r>)
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To: Bush2000
Let me guess: Apple invented the Webcam.

You almost got it right. Apple introduced the QuickTake 100 camera in 1994. It was the first digital camera for the consumer market.

9 posted on 12/10/2003 12:50:54 PM PST by HAL9000
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To: Bush2000
By the way, have you heard the rumor that Apple is negotiating the acquisition of 3dsmax from AutoCAD?
10 posted on 12/10/2003 1:00:15 PM PST by HAL9000
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To: Bush2000
I've never been big on video cameras, conferencing, etc, but the PC Magazine take on the iSight was that it was an existing idea that had been made truly functional and elegant. It's like a lot of Mac products. There's a simplicity and elegance to it.

You plug it in, it works. It reads the data stream, recognizes the frame rate your connection can sustain, etc, automatically. It's supposedly very intuitive. BTW, this was PC Magazine that made these statements, not me. They also lamented that it was only available for the Mac.

As you know, I'm a Mac head from way back, and I have no idea why this camera is getting so much attention, but everyone who reviews it is raving about it. Apple may have another iPod on their hands.

11 posted on 12/10/2003 1:12:58 PM PST by Richard Kimball
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