Video phones still seem futuristic to the average person. We all grew up watching television shows and movies that featured space age technology like video phones, and many people still equate video personal communication with something they may have seen on Star Trek, or perhaps what George Jetson was using on the old Jetsons cartoon to talk to his boss. Others see video telecommunications as equivalent to spy stuff used by James Bond in the movies and The Man From Uncle or the Avengers on television. But video phones are a reality in our modern age, and the features are increasing along with the quality, while the prices continue to drop.
One major advance in video phone technology is the use of broadband Internet technology. As one might expect, the Internet allows use of video based conferencing and communication devices that come with built in colour LCD screens as standalone devices. No computer is required, and a user is able to record and transmit video from one phone to another or from a phone to any email address for downloading on a computer.
When camera phones and video phones came out, they were immediately popular with consumers who saw the potential they held. There were others however, who wondered why someone would want a camera or a video camcorder with them constantly. With the help of major news networks publishing user generated news they began to see the convenience of being able to capture a moment, or a few moments, to share with friends and family. The ease of being able to download video files to a home computer, allows families to take more photos and video than ever before and save them for posterity and fun times in the future. Of course most phones only come initially with capability of recording about 15 seconds of video, but most phones also have the capability of adding a larger memory card and can then take up to an hour of video, a much more practical amount to have available.
Imagine as an example new parents who are paying close attention to a baby’s every move. In ages past parents would keep cameras around and worry about having enough film, enough light, and processing of the film if they were fortunate enough to catch baby’s first steps when learning to walk. Or, the cute smile that a baby will often make quickly, without notice. By having video technology built into a wireless phone, the video camera is always handy, and in twenty years the grown up child can sit with his or her parents and take a look at how he or she appeared as a baby.
Another possibility that leads consumers to want video technology on their phones is emergency situations. Many parents have purchased mobile telephones for teenage children so that they will always be in touch with them, no matter their location, as a safety feature. The same argument holds true for adding video technology. If someone is assaulted, sees a crime in progress, or is in an auto accident, being able to immediately take video and transmit it via the phone to a secure computer for later viewing can go a long ways towards keeping someone safe and solving problems about who may have been at fault in an accident. Just one way in fact that technology increases personal safety.
Video technology in mobile telephones will have an impact on society in many ways according to those who study trends in culture. One impact will be in the number of people who will be on the scene during breaking news events and able to record those events on their telephones and transmit them, making news gathering quicker, more accurate, and increasingly more the realm of amateurs as first gatherers rather than of the reporters who cover news for a living. This of course goes along with the tendency for news commentary to be reported on blogs before the traditional media, causing a societal shift in the way the press functions. In essence, everyone who walks the street carrying a video enabled mobile phone will be a potential reporter, able to capture events for television and the Internet as they happen.
Possible effects on privacy are a concern to some people since so many people will be carrying small, easily disposable video cameras built into mobile phones. For this reason the manufacturers and distributors of video capable mobile phones all recommend that they be used responsibly. Of course anyone with common sense can easily determine appropriate and inappropriate uses of video telephones.
The mobile communications industry changes rapidly. Only a few years ago mobile phones were much larger than they are today and the cost per minute of usage was much higher in price. Today’s mobile phones are becoming cheaper to purchase and use and their capabilities are increasing exponentially. At the same time the phones become smaller and more convenient, with batteries that last much longer than those in the past. Also batteries are more environmentally friendly now than they once were, and accessories such as hands free devices make wireless phones easier and safer to operate. When headsets were first introduced, the sight of someone seemingly talking to themselves as they walked down the street tended to be disturbing to passers by. Now however, the headset devices are so common that pedestrians no longer pay much attention to them.
As far as changes in technology go the future looks very bright for wireless communication and video technology merging. It won’t be long before memory cards and phones improve enough that large amounts of video can be saved and stored. Prices will continue to drop, according to most estimates, and more people than ever will become owners of mobile phones that include video technology. In many ways the days of Captain Kirk and George Jetson are upon us, as video messaging and video communication take place on our telephones.
