Virtual family reunions via Web cam

I did my column today on Web cams and holiday visiting. Web cams bring loved ones together was the headline but so many people use two-way video conferencing that it’s now a major part of the digital lifestyle.
Take this e-mail sent by Gary Gray, one of my group of Technofolk advisors who responded to a query I sent out yesterday asking people how they used their Web cams:

“Both I and my wife have PowerBooks running Mac OS X 10.4.X (Tiger)  and we use iChat and iSight video cameras to keep in touch with friends and family. I video chat with my Dad (who is also running Mac OS X  10.4.X with iChat and iSight) every week or two. He lives in Iowa and I live in Pennsylvania and it is a really nice way to casually talk about what has been happening in our lives. I also video chat every month or so with a good friend who lives in Chicago (also a Mac user). My wife uses this technology to keep up with her Sister and nieces (one is 2 and the other is 5 years old) who live in central Illinois. Her nieces really get a kick out of it since they get to see my wife and she can do things like play with Elmo, who the girls just love. Mac OS X is a wonderful solution for this because iSight cameras are cheap and the capability is built right into the OS via iChat. None of my family members are very tech savvy, but they had no trouble getting videoconferencing working.By the way, I have a friend who does weekly 4-way video chats with his parents in Italy, his sister in Pennsylvania, and his brother in Maryland — all of whom are running Mac OS X 10.4 and have iSight cameras.”