Friday, July 15, 2011

Google+ and the Glory of Group Video

What is Google+ ("Google Plus"), you ask?  Why it's the latest, greatest, not-yet-fully-accepted social networking site.

What does this mean for you?  It means you no longer need to send 18 texts to you buddies to figure out where you're going to eat, you can just do a "huddle".  See this demo.

More importantly and to help sustain our family's laziness, it means we can group video chat.  (Same demo as above - use the tab called "hangout").  So if Adam and Punjab have their computer on video chat, Luke and Piemer have it on theirs, Con and Rob (who's combined age is nearing 150yrs - the equivalent of almost six of me...) are online with cameras, Mary and Min repent of their no-technology stance and turn back on their computers, Beth and Joe turn theirs on, Sarah and MC do as well, and Theo and I each have our respective camera-enabled computers on...  WE CAN ALL SEE EACH OTHER AT ONCE.  There will be one big screen (displaying the loudest of us - probably either Luke or Kate), and all our little videos below.

In order to have Group Video a.k.a. "Hangout", you'll need to have: 1) a computer with a camera, microphone and working speakers (most of us can check this item), 2) a decent connection speed (Wireless N or hardwired in would be ideal.  Wireless G would be wanting.), and 3) a Google+ account.  If you don't have a Google+ account (currently Mom and I are the only ones), you'll need to be invited.  It was open to everyone for a while, but it became so popular that it bogged down Google's servers.  They're handling the traffic by having invitation-only adds for a while.  You'll also need to add the rest of the family into your social circles.

Once we're all to that point, we can argue just like the good old days - face to face.

1 comment:

Summer Wilson said...

Yes! Now we don't actually have to be together, and still count it as a visit. Thanks for the update - again, now I don't have to socialize and call you. I am up to speed on your life. Actually, I don't mind talking to you on the phone, in person is even better, if you would just come visit already.