Can You See What VSee?

I have been in the need for a video conferencing solution that would assist our district technology committee operate smoother. I had a few requirements that I was specifically looking for that most of your standard video conferencing software options did not meet. My primary requirements are:

• Product must be free
• Must be able to have at least 3 video feeds
• Must be able to have at least 3 audio feeds
• Must be able to detect LAN connection to reduce Internet Bandwidth Usage

I set out to find a product such as this yesterday and the typical Skype, Oovoo, MSN Messenger, Windows Live Messenger, and Yahoo Messenger was the most popular options people gave.

Finally today I stumbled upon what I believe to be my solution.

What is it?

The product is called VSee (http://vsee.com). This product allows users to host video conference meetings with multiple participants using your webcam and a microphone. I have just begun testing the product and so far it seems like it could be the solution I’ve been looking for.

I am going to continue testing this product out but as it stands, this product meets all 4 of my stipulations. The free part is the only one that is in question right now. They do have monthly subscription costs for the service but I have submitted a request to them to see if education institutions that have a limited need for the product would need to pay.

Initial Highlights

A few of the initial highlights that I noticed right away were as follows:

• Relatively small download (Just under 10MB)
• Easy to Install (no settings)
• Automatic account creation (Detects your Windows configured e-mail address and uses that as username)
• Quick & Easy meeting setup (no cumbersome meeting setup)
• Instant Messaging interface design
• Automatic Webcam and Microphone setup
• Screen & application sharing
• Network Statistics (Shows how much bandwidth both Audio and Video of each connection utilizes)
• Detect LAN connections and routes that traffic internally (Reduces Internet bandwidth usage)

Those are just some of the highlights I noticed within my first 10 minutes of using this software.

Initial Negatives

The only real negatives I’ve seen so far is the program did make my computer run a little sluggish when sharing an application. I can’t rule that as just bein the program as I had close to 20 different windows open so my computer may have just been having a tough time keeping up with everything.

I hope to do more evaluating of this product and posting back as to the success or failures of it, but for now, it seems to be a real promising product.

This Isn’t Your Mothers Web

Is the Internet really going to go to the highest bidder?

Sorry to say but it already has. If you think I’m wrong you may be living under a rock.

Some have said that information is now free on the Internet. I’m sorry but did someone just say information was FREE on the Internet?

I guess these people are getting their Internet services for free and have never gone to a site with advertisements. Information is not free by any means. Search engines are constantly advancing themselves technologically in order to track what you search in order to make money by selling that information to advertisers. Google is one of the biggest beneficiaries of advertisement monies making nearly $23 Billion in advertising alone in 2009 (http://investor.google.com/financial/tables.html). That is nearly 97% of all Google profits. Google even encourages people to utilize their AdSense and AdWords programs on their own websites and will pay you a certain amount of money based on the number of clicks they get from your site. (http://www.google.com/adsense, http://www.google.com/adwords). They make money by you doing the work for them. They certainly are geniuses at what they do.

The Internet is quickly becoming a great way for businesses to track what you do in every aspect of your daily life. As technologies become more prevalent and more convenient, businesses will want to know more and more of what you are doing so they can advertise and possibly sell you something. Don’t be surprised if that GPS enabled device you own starts advertising just before you reach the street corner that Starbucks is on, or just as you turn your phone on there is a text message showing you deals you can get at the airport terminal as you exit the plane. Your car will end up being a big advertising agent for businesses as more and more technology goes in. Your location is crucial to advertisers now.

So what is happening to the Internet? Web 3.0 is what is happening. Web 3.0 is the next generation of the Internet in which Web 2.0 will be expanded. We are moving from a generation of users who interact with others via social networking to a generation of users who are now interacted with by the Internet itself. Your digital imprint will be rated. How important are you? How much do others follow you? How much influence do you have on others? What is your profitability margin? That information will be very important for advertisers.

So, how bad is that?

Well it can be as bad as you want it to be or you can use it to your advantage. Obviously the more influence you have the more profitable your digital imprint will be. Don’t underestimate your value on the new Internet. Don’t allow advertisers to use your reputation to pedal their products without receiving some sort of benefit. Just because a site says it’s free to use doesn’t mean it is. If your content ends up riddled with other peoples’ advertisements then you just got duped. Don’t allow yourself to be manipulated and don’t live in the dark and expect every public figure you see isn’t pedalling something simply because they have your best interest in mind. Web 3.0 will require users to simply be more skeptical and a little bit smarter. It won’t be the end of the world and it certainly won’t be end of anonymity. At least, not for the majority.

Be smart, the next generation of the Internet is being designed to benefit businesses more than the individual. The Internet itself is a capitalistic world. Survival of the fitest. Know your digital imprint and don’t give it away for free.