Years ago, when chatting first hit mainstream, I’m thinking it was somewhere around 1995, my husband’s family had each purchased new computers — all in the same year. It was revolutionary. We were in Central Florida, the parents in Southwest Florida and my husband’s four sisters and their families all over the country, from California to Ohio and in between.
We’d schedule weekly or monthly chats with the entire family. Revolutionary. Seems to simple now, but back then it was incredible. We were able to communicate in a much broader sense.
Now, chatting has evolved so much. There’s IM, Twitter, email from phones, TXT and SMS messaging. And, recently Macintosh has introduced iChat. How this has opened my eyes to communication.
At my office we were all asked to use iChat as a main way to communicate to people not in our building. At first I wasn’t sure how I’d like seeing people (rather, people seeing me via a computer screen. I have to say, that it’s changed the way I feel about this type of communication. My parents must get a new Mac. We don’t get to see family all the time since we live in different cities, but being able to see each other will help build a stronger connection.
As soon as they upgrade, my toddler son will be able to see his grandparents whenever they are available for a conversation. Cameras are built right into the new Mac computers which simplify the process. And, Mac being Mac, they’ve made iChat super easy to use. There’s no fee either.
If you are in the market for a new computer and have family far away you owe it to yourself to consider a MacBook Pro or iMac computer — if you can convince the family member on the other end to comply. It will change your world — Jetsons style!
Here’s a tutorial I found on YouTube that shows how easy it it so use.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I don’t know much about iChat, but here’s another free solution for any and every platform: Skype! I love Skype, it’s free, and it lets my kids talk to their grandparents (who are full time RV’ers and never in one place) wherever they are.
You can either Skype chat (text) or video/audio chat. Skype chat can be done when the other party is offline and the message will be delivered when they connect, so that’s convenient, too.
I use Skype every day to talk for free to tech friends who live in Canada, California, and Washington State (I’m in Ohio).
Thanks Debbie for pointing out another great option. Everyone doesn’t have a Mac, not needs one. Skype is a great option for people. I didn’t know about the option to pre-record your session and send it to the recipient. Thanks for the comment!