Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Tiger Edition

314 switching to the mac: the missing manual

Apple offers this luxurious experience, however, only if you have both a video cam-

era with a FireWire connector and Mac with a 600-megahertz G3 processor (for

one-on-one video chats) or a G4- or G5-based Mac made in the past few years (for

multi-person video chats).

Tip: You don’t both need the same gear. If only you have a camera, for example, you can choose Bud-

diesÆInvite to One-Way Video Chat (or Audio Chat). Your less-equipped buddy can see (or hear) you, but

has to speak or type in response.

If you see a camcorder icon next to a buddy’s name, you can have a full-screen, high-

quality video chat with that person, because he, like you, has a camcorder or FireWire

camera and a high-speed Internet connection. If you see a stacked camera icon, then

that person has a fast enough Mac to join a four-way video chat.

To begin a video chat, click the camera icon next to a buddy’s name. Or, if you’re

already in a text chat, choose BuddiesÆInvite to Video Chat.

A window opens, showing you. This preview mode is intended to show you what your

buddy will see. (You’ll probably discover that you need some kind of light in front of

you to avoid being too shadowy.)

And now, some video-chat notes:

• If your conversation partners seem unwilling to make eye contact, it’s not because

they’re lying. They’re just looking at you, on the screen, rather than ...