1/30 Hangouts

[emeraldsedai]

Gosh, it's the third of September, which makes me three entries behind in my putative Post and Read Every Day In September plan, which I told no one about and only vaguely hinted at to
ravurian. I guess it will be make thirty posts in September, a slightly different commitment.

So, thing the first: Google+ Hangouts. Really cool. My sisters and I have been using Hangouts for a few weeks now. We all live in the same town, but getting together in person is a big production number. We're working on manifesting improvements in our lives (me: remodeling), and we like to meet to share our progress. Hangouts work perfectly.

What I like:

• The interface is reasonably intuitive
• It's free
• It easily accommodates several people and switches focus seamlessly to whoever's talking
• The sound quality is good, and the system eliminates cross-talk and echoes amazingly well
• You can start a Hangout on your phone, then switch to your tablet or computer, also seamlessly

What I don't like:

• It's a wee bit glitchy and isn't 100% reliable on all devices and operating systems (yet).
• It's a bit of a shock seeing myself as if on live TV. But I'm getting used to that. I'm figuring out makeup, lighting and angle.

It would be really cool if the geniuses of technology could figure out one thing: how to make it so that when I'm looking at you on the screen, I look like I'm looking at you. As it is, I have to gaze interestedly into the tiny pinhole front-facing camera on my device in order to look like I'm listening to you--and then I miss the nuances of your expression. Someone get on that, please.

Crossposted from Dreamwidth, where there are
comments.