Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Are Video Phones Back From The Dead?

Posted by timothy on from the but-I-want-video-voips-instead dept.

gwizah writes: "A company by the name of Vialta is peddling a new product all you future loving geek's can enjoy, A VideoPhone! Yes, Im sure you can all remember the many attempts to bring video-phonecall technology into the home or office, but unlike the flying car, you can pick up a pair at Fry's today! According to some reviews at USA Today and the WSJ, the product works as advertised. A new way to call Grandma? Or just another silly little toy to collect dust in that hall closet."

7 of 197 comments (clear)

  1. Redundant? by elite+lamer · · Score: 2, Funny

    Why do we even need this technology? Webcams are so cheap these days, and a good broadband connection isn't difficult to get in most areas.

    And do you really want to be prank-phone-called by someone at 3 in the morning by someone not wearing any clothes?

    --
    Oops!
  2. Wow! by tcd004 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Only $499.99 for a pair!

    They're gonna need more $ than that when Apple Sues them for using Aqua buttons on their site.

    Visit LostBrain

    tcd004

  3. Dr. Johnson would have said this by bartash · · Score: 2, Funny

    "Sir, a VideoPhone is like a dog's walking on his hind legs. It is not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at all."

    --
    Read Epic the first RPG novel.
  4. too many ugly people. by j1mmy · · Score: 1, Funny

    i don't like talking to them, much less seeing them.

  5. Any Idea how old this technology really is? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    The first demonstration of videophone technology occured betewen the offices of AT&T in New York and the secretary of commerce in Washington. The secretary of commerce was Herbert Hoover.

    If this technology had any traction with real people it would have caught on long ago. It has had plenty of opportunity.

  6. Re:Who would be so stupid to buy the first one? by freeweed · · Score: 3, Funny

    Same guy who bought an HDTV capable set before there were any HDTV signals (hell, for all I know, there STILL aren't any :)

    On a related note, Atari once produced more cartridges for a couple of their games (Pac-Man and E.T.) than existed systems at the time. Can't play a game on a non-existant system, now can we?

    Moral is: some people are either very savvy, or very stupid. Corporations only moreso.

    --
    Endless arguments over trivial contradictions in books written by ignorant savages to explain thunder in the dark.
  7. Re:Who would be so stupid to buy the first one? by Beryllium+Sphere(tm) · · Score: 2, Funny

    One of the all time great Dilbert strips was based on this idea.

    Dilbert bought the first videophone and sat in front of it waiting for someone to call.

    Dogbert mused that the scary part was that all progress depended on people being stupid enough to do things like that.