iChat AV at MacWorld San Francisco?

[MacRumors]

One unconfirmed rumor claims that iChat AV will be coming to Windows PC's at MacWorld San Francisco 2004.

Apple's iChat AV software provides support for their iSight Video Camera. The iChat AV software just made it to a final form on the Mac with the release if Mac OS X Panther. Apple will also be offering it for $29.95 users of Jaguar.

[iJon]

i dont think apple should do this, i think they should just work with aol into getting support into aim and aol. they have a good relationship with them now, lets not screw it up.

iJon

[Frozone]

Originally posted by iJon
i dont think apple should do this, i think they should just work with aol into getting support into aim and aol. they have a good relationship with them now, lets not screw it up.

iJon

I agree, they are giving too much to Windows users and it is going to make the Mac OS X less desirable because some of the better programs are already on Windows. iTunes and quicktime is fine but I think that's where they need to stop. And besides, if apple does do it and decides to charge for it then I doubt many people will be getting it.

[insidedanshead]

Originally posted by Iceman06
I agree, they are giving too much to Windows users and it is going to make the Mac OS X less desirable because some of the better programs are already on Windows. iTunes and quicktime is fine but I think that's where they need to stop. And besides, if apple does do it and decides to charge for it then I doubt many people will be getting it.

agreed. gotta leave some stuff for windows users to drool over.. then again.. think of how many more people wed be able to video conference with?

[iJon]

Originally posted by Iceman06
I agree, they are giving too much to Windows users and it is going to make the Mac OS X less desirable because some of the better programs are already on Windows. iTunes and quicktime is fine but I think that's where they need to stop. And besides, if apple does do it and decides to charge for it then I doubt many people will be getting it.

welll maybe, ichat isnt going to make many switchers, or at least not enough to make a significance. i look at ichat and the isight as apple's next ipod. they came out with it for the mac and it was groundbreaking, came out with it for windows and it took the world by storm. i do think ichat av is pretty useless without the rest of the 98% of the world. I would love to see isight and aim work in the windows world, i just dont think apple needs to make ichat. they are already in good ties with aol. just have aol make an update for aol and aim that puts the phone and camera icon on the buddy list and sell isights. thats all apple needs to do.

iJon

[NoVi]

Yeah, I think it will be quite essential for iChat to 'survive'

MSN Messenger for MacOSX with same specs as the Win version would be fine too...

[Thanatoast]

why shouldn't apple give windows users ichat? 30 bucks for apple is better than nothing. plus its advertising value.

also, we know apple likes to keep everything in house. if they provide ichat to everybody, they don't have to deal with compatibility issues with other programs.

and everyone who has downloaded itunes will probably give ichat serious thought.

i think it's all part of the grand plan. even as we speak, steve jobs is growing a bad guy goatee and saying "excellent".

[KEL9000]

Why would aol allow this? Plus windows has no zeroconf networking so iChat would really work, would it? Pretty lame rumor if you ask me.

[iJon]

Originally posted by KEL9000
Why would aol allow this? Plus windows has no zeroconf networking so iChat would really work, would it? Pretty lame rumor if you ask me.

itunes sharing works on windows, i dont see how ichat would be any different.

iJon

[Freg3000]

I am undecided if I like this or not. I'd like to keep as many super cool features on the Mac side of things. Although I do understand the limitations of iChat AV if it is only on Mac OS X, I worry about it on Windows.

We shall see.

[pyrotoaster]

I don't think Apple should port iChat (it's not that great of an app for just IMing). It would make more sense for them to work iChat's AV tech into AIM (I imagine AOL would like this idea, too. It would give them an edge over MSN Messenger).

[dricci]

Bad idea. Windows users will NOT pay for it. Especially since it has less features than the official AIM client for Windows. The Win AIM client has done voice chat to other Win (or Mac OS 9) AIM clients for years, and most Windows users I know just start up Yahoo if they want to video chat.

Conclusion: With free options available, and more Windows users (who are able to use free Windows voice/video chat products) than Mac users, very few will buy and use a more limited client that will only talk to maybe one or two of their buddies that happen to use a Mac and iChat.

[elliscarson]

I think you can bet on Apple slowly becoming more committed to their software as a valuable revenue stream. They make great software, but so much of it is limited to a small market. I believe iChat AV will be ported to Windows by the end of 2004. I also expect the price of iSights to drop slightly in that period, to put them in a more competitive position vis-a-vis Logitech, etc.

Mark my words.

[yamabushi]

It might make sense if they bundled versions for both Windows 2000/XP and Mac OSX with every iSight camera. This might help iSight sales a bit. If they just offered it as standalone software many windows users will try it with their existing cameras, which could cause performance and compatibility problems.

[manu chao]

They had to port iTunes to Windows in order to bring the iTMS to Windows and to keep the iPod competetive, but for iChatAV I don't really see the incentive (only that it would give Windows users more exposure to great Apple software).

The argument that the Mac would get more attractive for Windows users, if they could do video-conferencing with their still-on-Windows buddies, is not a real one, since they would not have to switch at all to do easy video-conferencing.

And no Windows user would say: "Macs are really not expansive, since I don't have to pay for iChatAV etc."

My proposal would be to give them iChatAV, but make it only work with Macs, not among PCs.

[chickengrease16]

i completely agree with those that disagree :-)

ichat av isn't the best IM program out there... actually i think that AIM for windows is better for IM'ing, because of formatting and blah blah blah. and i do think that the iSight should work with windows, but yeah, AOL should add in videoconferencing support to AIM in that case, and they can charge $30 for it if they want, like apple is for ichat av. i mean, i've got panther so i got ichat av for (relatively) free, but still :-)

[centauratlas]

I think this is a good thing, here is why:
1. Not everyone is going to switch (unfortunately).

2. It will be marketed like iTunes - as a vehicle to sell the iSight and encourage switchers. It is also a vehicle to get Quicktime (and other Apple software, such as iTunes, on a Windows machine). iTunes and iSight will cross pollinate.

3. Without inter-operability with Windows the usefulness is lower. Yes I can chat with some friends, but not all of them and that is bad. Apple needs iChat to work with other platforms. The odds of someone else doing it are low, but it is just like the *much* improved inter-operability with Windows in Panther. It is a selling point for Macs.

4. It is another opportunity to show the Windows world how much good design matters.

5. The Wall Street Journal had an article about this in the last 2 weeks and the Windows software and cameras are not there quality-wise. This is another opportunity for Apple to raise the bar and show the Windows crowd what they are missing. Being one of the first there with quality is important.

6. Like the iPod and iTunes, it is a trojan horse. 1 million Windows downloads of iTunes in 3.5 days. Think about that. That is great. If even 10% were to switch, is a big number. That pace won't keep up, but I can easily imagine several million per month and if even 10% switch, most will look and be impressed.

7. Things like iTMS for Windows (and Mac) may make a little money, but they aren't going to be a big profit center for Apple given how much they charge and the record co's keep. Some software (like Panther upgrades, iLife) may make some money, but the big money maker for Apple is hardware with great software: Macs, iPods, iSights, iPhone etc.

I think what will happen is this: it will come bundled with AOL. Plus Quicktime (this is a big thing because of xserve and quicktime streaming etc) will too. It will come free with iSight for Windows. I think that those alone justify its cost and existence, the extra exposure is icing on the cake. If they charge for it, not many will buy it, but if it is free, and is clear that it "works best with iSight" then that is a good thing to sell the hardware.

I don't think this is giving away the store, it is the free sample you get when you go in which gets you to buy more.

---
editted: MW SF, is Jan 5-9, 2004, right?

[johnnowak]

They should make iChat not suck first. I know several of my more.. snobbish PC friends.. would make fun of Apple for CHARGING 30 BUCKS for a client that doesn't even have support for basic stuff like animated buddy icons, tabs, etc. And I wouldn't blame them. Adium is a much better client if you don't need videochat.. and its free.

iChat is better than AOLs client, but its worse than so many others.

[Dippo]

This just doesn't seem like something that Apple would do.

I think that Apple would actually have more success tying the Video Conferencing feature into AIM and AOL than creating another windows App.

They might want to make iSight avaliable for Windows with drivers and what not, because I am sure they are getting a good margin off that $150.

[supercres]

Apple should not release iChat for Windows, at least not without making it the best damn IM software known to man!

If they can't do that, then, well, I don't know. AIM has to pick up the Apple features, which seems more likely with this new partership. I love iSight, but hate the fact that I can only videoconference with my family and only audio chat with one friend. (I know, convert them, but that's not really an option-- we're all po' college students...)

I hope they can make iChat into a really great piece of software, but I still don't think anyone would buy it. I'd have to start giving copies to people as gifts if i wanted to talk to 'em...

Still, I have faith in Steve. He knew this would be an issue, so he must be working on something feasible to make it a non-issue.

[DeusOmnis]

What are they going to do, charge 30 dollars for like they do w/ jag? or are they all of a sudden going to make it free and screw all the mac people who paid. More likely they'll get the windows version of AIM to be fully compatible w/ iSight.

[jettredmont]

Originally posted by chickengrease16
but yeah, AOL should add in videoconferencing support to AIM in that case, and they can charge $30 for it if they want, like apple is for ichat av.

Except that AOL is legally prohibitted from adding audio or video chat features to AIM unless it opens its AIM network up to all interested parties.

IMHO, Apple's iChat is AOL's back door to build the AIM user base without opening its network to everyone and their dog.

As such, it is certainly in AOL's interest for iChat to go to Windows. It would benefit Apple through the iSight angle (although other cameras work with iChat on the Mac so I would suspect others would work with iChat on the PC too ...) Likelihood of happening: about 75%. Likelihood of happening in January? Indeterminate.

Also, I seem to remember (I can't use iChat at work as the AOL ports are all blocked, so this is going from WWDC recollections ...) some music connection with iChat ... can't you stream your music across it too? Which is likely to be AAC/MP3 only, not WMA, which in turn makes iChat/Windows another brick in the wall of WMA denial.

[Superdrive]

Originally posted by johnnowak
They should make iChat not suck first. I know several of my more.. snobbish PC friends.. would make fun of Apple for CHARGING 30 BUCKS for a client that doesn't even have support for basic stuff like animated buddy icons, tabs, etc....

They charge $30 for AV compatibility if you run an older OS.

Basic stuff like animated buddy icons- I can see my buddy list now with 15 friends all having animated icons. This would detract from Apple's clean looking interface, let alone be very annoying. Tabs will come, however they did give us Exposé to hold us over. I think that makes my friends more jealous. If they are going to add features, why not auto-response away messages? Have a buddy profile (at least a link to .mac homepage). Change the view options, scale the buddy list down so the text will be smaller w/o losing icons.

It has been noted here before:
1) Go to the iChat menu
2) Choose the fourth option "Provide iChat Feedback"
This is the best way to get them to realize what you or we want.

If Apple is going to port iChat to Windows, they need to make it to suck...as much.

[bennetsaysargh]

i think they should work with AOL to incorporate the iChat A and V into it to work with OS X.
they can't port it because no one will buy it. it's ridiculous.

[Inkmonkey]

Well I certainly won't be buying an iSight until I can A/V chat with Windows users. All of my friends and family have Windows machines so this is just a sad reality.

iSight and iChat AV have no use for me unfortunately. Sure wish they did though because I love the look of them.