My wife and I talk every day, face to face. She spends most of her time in Hungary and I in California.
We are able to do this using Skype with allows us to not only do video conferencing, but to do it for free.
The quality isn't perfect but it's getting there. I already use Skype to make most of my business calls. I pay a flat $11 per month to make all of the calls, my computer to any land line, world wide that I want. My computer to cell phones still cost about $.20 per minute. That is when I revert back to the now archaic cell phone I carry on my hip. I use headphone with a speaker when I call from my computer. No blue tooth for me. The quality that blue tooth offers is too poor.
Now, the FCC is proposing nationwide VERY High Speed Internet. This means video conference calls with no lag. To me this means I can cut my annual travel by a huge margin, maybe altogether. I think online video calls have lagged simply because the speed is not good enough. Once the speed is there, the equipment will follow. Every company will have a HD camera in a conference room capable of showing all attendees for the person on the other side. Everyone will have two screens placed where the room can see them. One screen will be for the audience (or presenter, depending on your perspective) and the other will be for content such as a PowerPoint presentation. In this way, I will be able to see my audience and they me as well as both of us seeing the presentation.
In the near future, I can take golf lessons online as an instructor somewhere else in the world watches my swing. I can see a doctor for simple things like "My arm hurts when I do this." Biometrics will be taken from home kit that samples urine, BP and such and then relays the data instantly to the doctor doing the consultation.
After school tutoring can take place, as it should right now, by a teacher's earlier presentation being recorded and available for review. Or, a teacher can answer live online questions posed to her.
The VERY High Speed Internet is more than just being able to stream the latest movies. It will be a game changer.
