Being out of the US for nearly a year, I have not been able to do my usual Macintosh User Group presentations. So, a couple of weeks ago I did a presentation for SMOG (So Cal Mac Owners Group) over the web.
I did this presentation from my hostel lobby using my iPhone 3GS. (My original iPad fully lacks a camera and the NetBook, which has a camera and works with Skype simply didn’t work this time.)
We tried a Google Hangout but Skype worked better in our test and the day of the meeting.
Here’s a failed adventure in tech for you:
The iPhone 3GS lacks a front camera so I propped it up in front of a mirror. (One of the hostel owners actually took the bathroom mirror off the wall for me to do this!) My plan was to see the people at the meeting on my iPhone screen in the mirror. The flaw though is that the screen is tiny and I had to sit far back in order for them to see me. I gave up on the mirror
As we talked, the Internet was slow. I saw another guy on Skype and actually excused myself from the iPad screen and asked him to delay his call. He and his father were kind to oblige.
The Internet was still not strong enough to support two way video so we turned their video feed off.
So I spoke into the air, rather that to friendly faces. I do radio every week but this was oddly different and quite difficult as I usually adjust my content to groups based on facial reactions. Then we switched to Q&A and I got to hear friendly voices and have a more phone or radio-like conversation.
People came and went from the hostel. Guests were swimming in the pool. Some folks walked by and wondered about the woman sitting by the lobby desk speaking loudly into an iPhone she held at arms’ length.
It was great to be with my SMOG friends again, but…
once more I found my tale of travel and tech ending with the familiar summary — I miss having a Mac and the efficiency and beauty of a Mac.