The TokBox tour.
[Note: This post is part of my participation in Mom Central, "a one-stop web resource dedicated to providing busy moms with smart household and parenting solutions." In exchange for my honest thoughts on TokBox, I will receive a $20 Amazon.com gift card.]
My daughter and I had fun last week trying out TokBox, which bills itself as "a free service that lets you talk with your friends over live video." There are lots of places on the Web that host homemade videos, of course, but what I like about TokBox is that it offers users the option of live video chat *or* recording a video message, with a very simple interface. I especially like that I can control access to the kids' videos without forcing friends and family to go through a number of hoops to get there. (I have many non-techie relatives on the East Coast, including a bubbe in her 80s, who would love to see a video of the kids, but lack the computer prowess to do anything too complicated.)
During our tryouts, my son (10) was sick, so I stayed near him as he slept while my daughter (8) was in the living room. She was logged in to her email account, and I sent her a link to a live video chat via my TokBox account, which was a breeze to set up. She was on the iMac and I was on my MacBook, and we had effortless chatting once we got her machine's volume set correctly. (I've also watched videos from my Windows machine with no issues.)
My daughter went on to create some silly dancing videos, which she can send to people in our family via email. They will receive a direct Web link to her videos and can marinade in the cuteness without having to download a huge file or set up an account. There's also no porn-themed content from random users showing up in the sidebar as there is on YouTube. TokBox offers several layers of privacy and account control, depending on your comfort level, and the interface is clean and uncluttered. And it was a great distraction for a perfectly healthy kid who was stuck at home because her brother was sick. I'd say it's a winner.
My daughter and I had fun last week trying out TokBox, which bills itself as "a free service that lets you talk with your friends over live video." There are lots of places on the Web that host homemade videos, of course, but what I like about TokBox is that it offers users the option of live video chat *or* recording a video message, with a very simple interface. I especially like that I can control access to the kids' videos without forcing friends and family to go through a number of hoops to get there. (I have many non-techie relatives on the East Coast, including a bubbe in her 80s, who would love to see a video of the kids, but lack the computer prowess to do anything too complicated.)
During our tryouts, my son (10) was sick, so I stayed near him as he slept while my daughter (8) was in the living room. She was logged in to her email account, and I sent her a link to a live video chat via my TokBox account, which was a breeze to set up. She was on the iMac and I was on my MacBook, and we had effortless chatting once we got her machine's volume set correctly. (I've also watched videos from my Windows machine with no issues.)
My daughter went on to create some silly dancing videos, which she can send to people in our family via email. They will receive a direct Web link to her videos and can marinade in the cuteness without having to download a huge file or set up an account. There's also no porn-themed content from random users showing up in the sidebar as there is on YouTube. TokBox offers several layers of privacy and account control, depending on your comfort level, and the interface is clean and uncluttered. And it was a great distraction for a perfectly healthy kid who was stuck at home because her brother was sick. I'd say it's a winner.