BehindTime

So, who has seen the ad for the new iPhone, with what they call FaceTime?
Everyone? Yeah, pretty much.
FaceTime is basically the iPhone's (well, Apple's) answer to video calling,
Which as it turns out is not a new thing.
I of course knew this, but it seems a great many people do not.

Apple's website says "People have been dreaming about video calls for decades",
Which is true,
But they have also been living the dream of video calls since 2003.
What? But how?
Well, through the magic of 3G UTMS networks. 
Three provided Australia with its first ever mobile video call on April the 15th, 2003*.
Since then, many Three phone's (including NEC's, LG's and Motorola's) have been capable of making video calls and even included dedicated Video Call buttons, meaning it was just as easy to make a video call as it was to make a normal voice call.

Let us backtrack to FaceTime, which is being heralded as a new and exciting feature of mobile phones.
I suppose in a way it is, as it can only be used between other iPhone 4's over Wi-Fi networks.
Yes, that's right, not over a 3G network, even though the technology has existed for years.
I don't know whether Apple has plans for this video calling capability to be expanded to use 3G networks or to work between other phones in the future, but I sure as hell hope they do.

I do plan to get a new iPhone 4, to replace my stupid N97 which I complain about constantly, but the idea that I will no longer be able to make video calls disappoints me.
I am yet to find out whether tethering for mobile modem use is an extra cost, but if it is I can assure you I will be just as annoyed.
I had the same reaction when in the iPhone 3GS they included things like voice dialling and a camera with autofocus. 
These simple phone features have been available for years, and it astounds me (and others, thankfully) that Apple are boasting about their 'fancy new features' when in reality they are, put simply, behind the times..


Yet somehow, they still manage
to
suck
us
in.


x


*sourced from http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2010/06/australias-first-mobile-video-call-april-15-2003/