Have you not heard?
You most likely have. And if you’re on twitter, you heard the news ten more times than anyone else.
Google released a video and voice chat feature within Gmail yesterday.
Like the Chrome launch, no one had any idea until the day of launch. Neat approach? Sure, I like it.
But why this? And why now? And why should people care?
Simple. Because it’s the first massive move towards fully embracing video chat. And right now in this field, it’s all about one thing: availability
Most people overlook the concept of “availability.” For all the strategy nuts out their, you’ll remember the importance of availability when Resource Based Analysis was prominent in the early 90′s. In short, a company’s output, is directly correlated with their available resources.
If you lock a fat guy in a house for a month with water and tuna, he’ll lose weight.
Why?
Because nothing else is available. In his former environment, he probably had a bag of Ruffles in every room. He couldn’t help himself!
Of course, quality and ease are a factor in the video chat area; however, quality will be developed over time, and ease is embedded in availability. If video chat is widely available, it’s easier to use. How so? Well, imagine if you used another video chat alternative. You’d have to sign up, learn the intricacies and introduce every friend to the service. Then you’d have to hope that the software isn’t heavy and clumsy.
With video talk in gmail, you click a button. That’s it.
It’s “Googleish.” Light and simple.
The popularity of video chatting will significantly rise within the next year. We’ll see a wealth of new market entrants, as well. For people like myself, who enjoy working in remote locations, video chat opens up a readily available way to communicate.
I can communicate with portfolio companies, see pitches over video chat, talk with business partners across the world and catch up with family.
I could do this before, sure. But it’s now easily available! And, like the fat guy with ruffles, I can’t help myself.