Owen's X10 Blog

So I got one. Yep – Mr. Gadget, as a friend calls me, got another device to make life easier. X10 gave me a Video Calling System so I could test it out and tell everyone I know about it.

Video Calling, huh, what’s that? I can hear you now sitting in your stiff office chair or worn out Ikea chair at home. Several years ago my grandfather invested in a video calling phone from, I think, AT&T. It looked very cool – very Jetson’s like, but no one else had one. So it turned out to be a clunky normal phone with a useless screen. Time has passed and everyone is gradually upgrading to broadband internet and turning in Newspapers for E-Newsletters.

My grandma fires up her brand new E-Machine at 5am and sends out her daily emails. She then jumps on Msn Live Messenger to see if any cousins, grandkids, or friends in foreign countries have anything to say to her. “Did you ring my bell?” she asks me as I sign on. It took her a while to realize the dinging bell she was hearing was just a messenger contact signing on – while not actually trying to get a hold of her. She eventually got the hang of it and to my amazement she uses it quite a lot. I have to ease her into new ideas when it comes to the internet and her computer, but I am thinking of a way to tell her about video calling. She already uses a compatible messenger to chat, so all that I need to do is get her a Video Calling System and go through the easy one time setup process. It only takes me 5 minutes. After that it’s as simple as a click of a button during her chats. Just click on share webcam and she can let her friends see her brilliant smile, and hear her unique laugh. She’s often alone in her big house. The house her husband built; the house they raised their kids – my mother. Being able to communicate face to face could be so important to her. I’ll get it done for her.

I didn’t even tell my sister I had received the cam before I sent her an invitation to view my webcam. She was surprised, but even more surprised to see me so clearly over the internet. Sometimes if I get a cell phone call from her I turn on the cam so she can see me as I come and go. I like to walk around when I talk on the phone – very odd. I almost always get up when my phone rings. Brings a new meaning to the word Mobile Phone I guess.
Oh yeah - did you want one - well check out The X10 Video Calling Website for more information and purchasing options.