So one of the “cool” applications we launched with the new Studio laptops is Dell Video Chat (DVC). This is a super easy, one-click-and-you’re-ready-to-go program that makes setting up a video chat mindless. When we were talking to reporters about how easy DVC was to start up and use, my spokesperson, Brent Wampler, director of global product marketing, was initially greeted with a bit of skepticism. Many reporters were familiar with video chat, including one who had used it regularly in grad school while working on group projects. All agreed that “easy to use” and video chat don’t normally belong in the same sentence. So how do we qualify just how easy this is to use? To Brent’s credit, he found a way to articulate the easy set up in a way that a lot “technical” folks can relate to: “My mom can use this.”
This is nothing against moms (I’m a mom), but it is one of the BEST litmus tests available when trying to figure out if something is TRULY easy to use. But Brent isn’t the only one who thought of this litmus test…check out this GREAT post on Gear Diary by Wayne Schultz, who did indeed, enlist his mom to test how easy DVC is to download and use.
I also want to recognize the folks who teamed with Dell to make Dell Video Chat a reality: SightSpeed. I met the SightSpeed team a couple of months ago, and going into the meeting, I had NO idea what DVC entailed, but after 10 minutes with Eric Quanstrom, VP of marketing, I was really excited and ready to give it a try. Eric ended the meeting by sending me a video email, which was so laid back and “real” that I went home and downloaded SightSpeed’s “free” version on our family XPS M1530 and played with it. A couple of weeks later, I was in New York on a business trip when my daughter had her braces removed and I was beside myself I couldn’t see her THAT DAY. As it happens we were actually demoing DVC to some publications and voila – my daughter logs on to SightSpeed at home, connects to the DVC account we are using for demonstrations and I (and everyone else in the room) get to see the most beautiful smile EVER (it was the ultimate “proud mom” moment).
So a couple of additional points about Dell Video Chat – there are TWO versions – a full featured version that ships on all Studio Laptops and a free version that SightSpeed has made available at www.sightspeed.com/dellvideochat. The free version works on just about ANY PC – including Mac (see Wayne’s post – his mom has a Mac) and Linux, as well as Windows XP and Vista. So if you get a Studio laptop don’t think you can’t reach out to friends and family because they don’t have one. Dell Video Chat users can send their personalized “My SightSpeed” URL to ANYONE over the Internet, and that person can simply click to call the Dell Video Chat user through their Web browser with NO software download of any kind and DVC users can create and send video messages to anyone with an email account and that recipient can view those video messages without any software download of any kind.
I promise you – it’s so easy your mom/dad/daughter/son can use it first time out!
June 30th, 2008 at 9:20 am
Wow, that looks great. Its nice to see Dell branch out like this.
July 2nd, 2008 at 4:37 am
You can download it for free
http://www.sightspeed.com/dellvideochat
July 21st, 2008 at 11:45 pm
“So Easy Your Mom Can Do It”???
Aw, come on, already!
Why does everyone assume that older women are all technologically dumb??
I am 54 years old… I love learning about computers and technology and plan to keep learning till I croak! I have even built two computers from scratch… although I’d rather just buy a Dell.
As a matter of fact, I firmly believe that many of us older folks tend to appreciate this wonderful new word of gadgets, gizmos, and goodies all the more because we have lived life without it. I think many (not all, but many) younger people tend to take it for granted because they’ve always had it available!
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:43 am
Doxigragix:
I knew when I wrote this that someone would rise and defend *moms.* Thanks for volunteering :-).
To be honest, because I live, breath and dream about technology every day, I often find that when I start talking about it to friends and family outside Dell, their eyes tend to glaze over. To borrow a pertinent analogy, they want to know what time it is, not how to build a watch. I have to challenge myself and my coworkers to be able to explain the benefits of a new feature to technology to a friend or family member in a couple of minutes in layman’s terms and often this becomes “Would your Mom/Dad/Wife/Husband/Child understand this?”
But I would also argue that you are at the edge of the “bell curve” - you know that 80/20 rule. On one side you have the luddites who really never go out of their way to use technology, regardless of how much easier it may make their life. Then there are the 80 percent who want it to “just work” (a.k.a. tell me what time it is) – our goal was to assure this group Dell Video Chat is simple to use. And then the other side, the folks who know a lot, ask the harder questions, are curious to learn more. You, like me, are actually what is known as “an influencer” - friends and family (usually in the 80% group) come to you with questions, for advice, and work technology into their life based on your opinions and guidance.
Finally, you are absolutely correct about *older folks* having a certain appreciation for gadgets and gizmos - and even better, this group of users are able to provide the most complete, best articulated feedback about their thoughts/impressions/experiences when testing /using a product or application, which is then used to help design and develop our next round of products.
And I would be remiss if I did not take the opportunity to point out that the free download version of Dell Video Chat will also work on you BYO PCs :-). I encourage you to head to http://www.sightspeed.com/dellvideochat, and try it out. We have a great place for feedback too: http://www.ideastorm.com. Thanks again for taking the time.
August 5th, 2008 at 12:15 am
Dell is a terrible product. Their defective battery almost cost me a portion of my PhD Thesis. I cannot get them to replace it. I spent over $1000 dollars when I started grad school to buy a Dell laptop, and 2 years into my thesis research my laptop nearly combusts. I will NEVER buy a Dell again, I would prefer a quality product that is reliable to their cheap product.
Oh, and when calling to protest my defective battery and seek a replacement, I was told it would cost $50 to even speak with someone on this topic. Are you serious? It this to cover costs of outsourcing to India? The most ridiculous phone call I’ve ever experienced.
Again, DO NOT BUY A DELL. Save yourself from the frustration of dealing with them after they knowingly put out a defective product, and save yourself from the risk of losing something important, such as priceless years of thesis research.
November 19th, 2008 at 7:35 pm
Great offering by Dell to include the Dell Video Chat (full version) as part of the build. I found out the hard way if you ever uninstall the software you cannot reinstall the full version that includes the free 4 way calling feature. Dell Tech Support informed me that I had to reformat the hard drive and restore the system software to factory condition just to get the free 4 way chat feature back! I did it and I got the 4 way feature back but a cost of many hours of reinstalling software again and setting up of my environment.