More Video Call Ideas
Below is the transcript of a discussion i had about Video Calls today on #mobitopia (the mobitopia irc channel). There are some interesting points in there (I'm chatting as 'esber').
Well it seems data and video do share the same bandwidth, the operators just seem to charge them in different ways. I'm not 100% sure that is right yet and am still looking into it. If anyone has any comments or suggestions to add to the discussion please drop a comment or e-mail me. Click the link below to read the transcript and see what i'm talking about:
<esber> I've got Video Calls on My mind<esber> their future etc
* JibberJim doesn't think video calls will be much used.
<esber> not in their current form no
<JibberJim> other than for sending pictures of strippers or something, people aren't that interested - people use the phone walking down streets etc.
<JibberJim> these don't work with video-calling.
<esber> i was thinking more about one-way video streaming
<esber> you set up a connection instead of a call to a website/phone/whatever and stream live what you want to share
<esber> its the "what-i'm-looking-at" instead of "look-at-me"
<esber> steeping away from the video conferencing style
<JibberJim> yes, that's definately a possible use, but the cost is too high for that
<JibberJim> as you need to keep it going...
<esber> yeah a good example was the Nokia 6630
<JibberJim> and the quality isn't really much cop - you hear about people who've "broadcast" concerts on their phones to their friends, with a video you don't gain much more as the quality is so low.
<esber> i was thinking more in the future
<esber> now its not really worth doing but as connection speeds get faster, cameras sharper it will become easier and higher quality no?
<JibberJim> but if the bandwidth goes up, the cost will also go up...
<esber> true
<glass> maybe if thinking in a 5 year timespan or so
<esber> yeah something like 3 years+
<glass> as cost per mb will go down in the long run.. if not immediately
<esber> its falling already
<esber> but not really fast enough
<JibberJim> I still think the market is tiny, especially as most places you'll want to do this, they'll be wifi...
<esber> EXACTLY
<esber> over wifi this becomes more perceivable
<esber> As you said most places of interest will probably have wifi close by, with a wifi enabled phone its a breeze
<esber> and its still technically a Video Call no?
<JibberJim> no, I think it'll be streamed media, mostly to desktop devices, and not phones.
<JibberJim> and unlikely to be done by phones.
<glass> jibberjim: it's not where to that would be the intresting part.. but where from. cheapo instant live reporting i guess
<glass> but gotta run->
<esber> Phones are ideal for this...they're always around
<esber> light
<esber> easy to use
<esber> mostly :
<JibberJim> yes, live reporting with videophones is a market, for what maybe 100 reporters in the UK?
<esber> and it would end up on other phones...it could be sent user to user..or over the net to someone whos browsing on their phone
<JibberJim> but I don't see how you want to do this on the spur of the moment...
<JibberJim> disasters are about the only time...
<JibberJim> and how often have you seen a disaster?
<esber> people have things theywant to show "on the spur of the moment" all the time
<esber> look at Moblogs for instance
<JibberJim> they want to show their blog maybe! but that ain't video calls
<JibberJim> it's archiving
<esber> yes but you can do both eg> I visited the Tate Modern this summer and blogged it on my Moblog but also directly texted some firends the better pictures. There was also some Video i took (there were some video exhibits) which i could have done the same with.
<esber> Posted it to the Blog for archiving and also saying "check it out you should have some with me"
<esber> *come
<esber> Or how about streaming a confrenece from blogger con or something like that?
<JibberJim> geeks are not that big a market
<esber> Big enough
<JibberJim> I've not met that many...
<esber> look at places like www.lockergnome.com
<esber> they thrive on their huge legion of geeks...and those geeks are starting to get smartphones
* JibberJim can't imagine there's more than 20million total market in the world.
<JibberJim> which means there's maybe 10 million who can afford to buy the device/bandwidth
<JibberJim> which means there's maybe 2 million who will.
<JibberJim> that's a tiny market.
<esber> yes but you don't have to do anything special to cater to that market. The phones have the capabilities already
<JibberJim> oh, I don't reckon they do, 'cos like we said before the quality is crap.
<esber> You misunderstand
<esber> phones are going that way anyway
<esber> if there were no Video calls data speeds would still get faster and costs cheaper
<JibberJim> maybe, I just can't see it being any more than a tiny niche
<esber> :D
* JibberJim thinks the data market is larger than the video market
<esber> Yes and the Video Market can ride that larger Data market. Data market will lead to quicker data connections and cheaper connections no?
<JibberJim> do they share bandwidth, or do they need to be configured seperate like sms/voice in GSM ?
<esber> Good question
<esber> :)
November 20, 2004 by Tarek Abu-Esber | Permalink
