Week 2 Message Design- ooVoo, TalkShoe and more(oo)

I checked out ooVoo tonight as a new site recommended by Joni. It is interesting how much develops and how little we sometimes know. I was familiar with free online chatting based on experience with Skype, which has made family conversations a lot different. My in-laws are big into Skyping with us now, especially surrounding grandkids. This seems like another great tool to use for that, as Skype can sometimes be touchy during high usage times. It's good to have alternatives, and I'm surprised I'd never heard of it.

Jott I had heard of before, but haven't always used it. It's neat because it's free, but I think it will take a while to get used to before I really make use of it. I had heard of it from a David Pogue vidcast (vodcast?) where he discussed it as a tool. I definitely can benefit from a "to do" list, but it's part of the adjustment to get used to. It also seems like just when you get used to a tool, another better bigger faster one comes out. Man I am getting old for 29.

I also have never heard of TalkShoe. Another interesting new idea. The community chats make it like a call in radio show run by the listeners. I really like the potential there, but a big concern becomes reliability. I love the push towards chatting online more where it is free and you can view those you are talking to. We're heading towards what we've seen in all of those "futuristic" movies with the video conferencing. It reduces a lot of walls, and makes communicating more authentic.

Relevance and meaning also come to mind when thinking about many of the Web 2.0 features like this. I love the potential, but am scared of the current use. I think of how many postings I have read attached to numerous news stories, YouTube videos and the like that contain something like "U R gay" or "Obama sux" or something equally mind numbing. I think over time the conversations will improve, but I can only hope.

I was thinking about the use of these materials in my job. It would be hard to push too hard for the use of these, as I'm still very new, but I think there is a lot of potential. I don't like VPs being able to see my face though after 70 minutes of an ongoing conference call.