You Keepin' Up With The Jetsons?

If you are around my age (which I'm not going to openly disclose! jk, you probably all know how old I am anyways) then you will remember the cartoons such as

The Smurfs, 

The Flinstones,

Scooby Doo

and of course The Jetson's.

My brother and I only watched TV in between our monumentous street hockey games, but that's a whole nother story..

I remember watching the Jetson's thinking how cool it would be to have a vacuum that you could leave on and come home to a clean floor!

(Never did it ever cross my mind that I might actually live to see the day where I have to watch my step when I head over to a friends' house for fear of death by a robotic vacuum cleaner named 'Roomba'!)

I also remember seeing George Jetson calling home to his wife Jane and this "video phone" drops down and they are able to communicate face-to-face 

(George was usually calling from his full-time job which in that utopian era was considered to be 9 hours per week - 3 hours per day for 3 days per week)..

When I was younger I remember thinking how cool is that?!!

Well fast forward to a few years ago and I discovered this technology called Skype...  

It was my first exposure to face to face communication which was impressive however, depending on your connection, time of day, how many toasters there were plugged in on your block, which orbit jupiter was in, what color of socks you were wearing, etc. etc. 

I very often found myself looking at a delayed/frozen screen with OR without sound. (check out funny video in P.S.)

That is of course until I discovered that there IS such a thing as video phones! I know what your thinking... its only 2011.  But here's the thing, there are huge advances in this technology that they are just scratching the surface in the market right now... 

There are very clear leaders in this technology.

• Imagine being able to talk to your parents while you're home sick and away at university... face to face!

• Image being able to connect with your best friend or brother (that you never get to see as often as you would like)... face to face!

• Imagine being able to visit and SEE your grandkids whenever you want, even if there are miles in between you... face to face!

• This technology can be powerful for those who travel a lot and miss their partner and kids - well what if you could actually tuck them in at night... face to face! 

(This goes without mentioning the quality of relationships you can develop in business across continents... face to face)

The Jetsons were definetly ahead of their time but I'm telling you... video phone technology is available to you RIGHT NOW.  

I know what you're thinking, its probably like hundreds of dollars to set it up and another hundred each month for your bill right? Wrong. 

It's actually totally affordable and likely cheapier than your current plan if you have certain restictions for time of day calling or number of minutes for outgoing calls...

I don't know about you but I'm working towards my Jetson's work week BEFORE its 2062 ;)

Cheers, 

Sherri

P.S. If you are a regular Skype user you will have to check out this video comparing Skype versus Video Phone technology.

P.S.S. It's pretty cool to think my kid's generation will only know face to facecommunication... what we thought was "the future" of communication, is already here NOW.