On 9/28/10 9:08 AM, Jesse Thompson wrote: > On 09/24/2010 07:14 PM, Edward Ned Harvey wrote: >>> From: tech-boun...@lopsa.org [mailto:tech-boun...@lopsa.org] On Behalf >>> Of Jesse Thompson >>> >>> traffic. The actual voice/video capabilities depend on the client or >>> device. e.g. Psi and Pidgin now have rudamentary p2p voice >>> capabilities. No client compares to Skype that I'm aware of. >> >> Oh dear. You haven't used iChat. It's enormously better than skype as a >> client. Only problem is the fact that it's Mac only. > > and that's a big problem. If the majority of your users can't run it, then > it can immediately be > ruled out.
[I know I'm jumping in late and there has been plenty of discussion already. I have just one point/distinction.] On the other hand, a client is only a client. Any individual should be able to use whatever client works best for them on their platform as long as it interacts with others. I routinely use iChat to interact with a hardcore opensource guy who insists on using Jabber with whatever the opensource thing is that he uses as a client. The only problem I have is that his client drops connections somewhat frequently. I also connect over AOL with iChat to people who are on PC's, smart phones (that are not iPhones), etc. My son uses skype and can connect with me when I'm using iChat. I can also text a "dumb" phone by supplying the fully qualified phone number and going through AOL. So, the question is really about choosing a means of interacting that is supported by a sufficient spectrum of clients. Or for an individual to choose a client that is sufficiently broad to connect with whatever means of interacting you settle on. So far, iChat has done everything I've wanted to do and then some. My daughter has had smores parties (heated over a candle on her desk) and pajama movie parties with a friend who lives 2000 miles away, connecting from iChat with an iSight to whatever the friend was using on her PC. They could giggle together and talk while watching the same movie. Assuming that everyone has to use the same client comes a bit too close to the financial web sites that insist you have to be using IE and then program stuff directly to IE so that indeed I have to. But I can't. Microsoft has not supported IE on Mac for many years and has never supported it for Mac OS X. So, I'm stuck using the kiosk at my Bank if/when I absolutely have to. But that's not at all what internet banking is supposed to be. It sucks. -- --------------- Chris Hoogendyk - O__ ---- Systems Administrator c/ /'_ --- Biology& Geology Departments (*) \(*) -- 140 Morrill Science Center ~~~~~~~~~~ - University of Massachusetts, Amherst <hoogen...@bio.umass.edu> --------------- Erdös 4 _______________________________________________ Tech mailing list Tech@lopsa.org http://lopsa.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tech This list provided by the League of Professional System Administrators http://lopsa.org/