Technology is cool…

Thanks to the miracle of modern science, last night I was able to watch someone in Japan iron a shirt, live, over the internet.

Seriously.

I was working late at the office on the Mini Smithees (an important part of your U*Con experience) and I had iChat open in the background so that my wife could pop in and say hi from home. Suddenly there was a blipping sound, and a message popped up from an old friend of mine, now living in Japan. A quick cable swap and some mouse clicks later we had a video conference going. I was able to show him a bit of my insanely crowded and cluttered office (we’re set up for studio portraits this week, so everything is askew and there are light stands scattered about) and he was able to take a break from typing and get on with ironing his shirt before heading off to work.

The iSight camera and iChat AV are incredibly freaking cool. If you’ve got a broadband connection and a Mac, you really need to try them out. I’ve seen video iChats between my boss and one of his neighbors, and that was cool, but that’s all taking place in the same town. It’s nothing compared with being able to chat with someone in Japan with practically zero delay time in the video feed…