As often happens, the next application that is likely to explode in usage was announced quietly, and will grow through viral user adoption. When Apple rolled out the list of new features on the iPhone 4.0, they handed us an application that does something that does not seem earth shattering on first blush, but is sure to go wild with users. The ability to see someone’s face while “calling” them has been talked about for years, we have known it was coming, we have toyed with it in the past, now it will be mainstream.

I try to remember interesting technology moments in my life – the first PC I ever programmed on, the first laptop I ever had, the first email I sent, and the first Web site I ever built. The first time I did a video call using FaceTime I borrowed an iPhone from Stephen Bohanon (a friend of mine) and he called his wife to show me how it worked. While it was connecting with her he handed me the phone and I prayed to God she was not in the bathroom or some other embarrassing situation. She answered the video call while putting on lipstick so the first view I got was a very close perspective on her lips being colored red. This is a memory that will now be in the technology database of my mind forever. We chatted for a bit and she showed me how she could switch back and forth between the front facing and rear facing cameras. The quality of the video call was great, and we eventually signed off.

My observation is that everyone I know that has gotten the iPhone 4 is quick to tell me how much they love FaceTime. This is no shock as I mentioned because we have long talked about having this capability and how nice it would be. Stephen told me that his first observation is that he talks longer to his wife when he can look at her versus just an audio call. This makes sense since we are predominately visual in our perceptions of the world. There is little doubt that other phone manufacturers will be forced to follow suit, and this capability will become mainstream quickly. Based on this, allow me to list my top five good and bad things about this application…

The Good:

1. This will bring people even closer together because it will add the picture to go with the voice for families, friends and co-workers.

2. Speaking of co-workers, this will be a boon for virtual teams because it will provide another method for people that do not work together in an office to communicate as if they were sitting next to each other – even across the world.

3. Conversations will now have more meaning and additional context. You will be able to better get across sarcasm, humor, and style

4. Emergency response can be improved because now you can show a responder your situation before they get there. An emergency worker can better evaluate a wound before they even show up.

5. Citizen journalism can now go live. People can connect with a media source while an event is happening instead of just recording it. Another nail in the coffin of traditional media hegemony

The Bad:

1. Let’s get this one out of the way fast… Crank calls are going to be rampant as every pervert in the world will dial people to show body parts.

2. All of the video calls are going to stress the already overworked telecom systems. This will result in even worse service than we are getting today – and for AT&T, that could be tragic.

3. The distraction factor of video calls at work is going to be an issue with productivity. It was one thing to just take a quick call in the middle of the day. It is a much worse issue to connect over video and chat.

4. Breaking up relationships over the wire has just gotten the best tool yet. Is there really any reason to end things in person at this point?

5. Telemarketers are going to discover this tool and all hell will break loose. They will have ten schemes by this time next year to grab our attention visually before we can hang up on them!

Scott Klososky
Scott@klososky.com