Telephones are one of the biggest inventions people have tried to one-up, perhaps only seconded by email. Voice calls work fine for most purposes, and most of us increasingly rely on text messages to communicate. But the wheels of innovation roll on, and today, with video-enabled smartphones, tablets, and more, we’re closer to the Jetsons’ world of video phones than ever before.
Video chat seems to be the latest must-have feature to add to your social network or smartphone. We’ve had Skype video chat for years, though with slow internet speeds and slower processors, it wasn’t always such a pleasant experience. Nowadays, though, video chat can be amazingly smooth and clear. Apple’s Facetime makes video chat a quick button-tap away, and Google+ Hangouts proves that group video chat can be incredibly fun and useful. Even Facebook has joined the video calls game, integrating Skype video calls directly in your browser.
Even though video chat can be nice, though, it’s still not as nice as being together. And while you can call your mother without worrying about how your hair looks, you’ll always have to be presentable if you’re calling with video.
So, are you ready to join the Jetsons and make all of your calls with video, or are plain-old voice calls still enough for you? Or have you quit making phone calls altogether, using your smartphone as a text and social network tool instead?