IT should be the ultimate in electronic communication- you see the person you are talking too, live and in color. but after more than 30 years of promise, the personal videophone is still a technology in waiting. The hadware has improved and the number of producers has expanded , but the videophone's reception is still poor. Consumers don't seem convinced that a jerky image of the person at the other end of the line improves communication - at least not if they have to pay a lot for it.
Today , transmitting video signal doesn't require any special lines , so the cost of a video call is the same as any other . But the devices receive only 5-10 frames a second , against a smooth 24 for movies . Says telecom analyst Dylan Tinker of honk kong's jardine Fleming Research : " It's not much of a video
The phone itself will cost upwards of $700. And that's just for one . The person you intend to communicate with needs a compatible model too.