I’m struck by how easy it’s getting to do video-mail these days. I remember as a kid, while reading a futuristic mystery novel, how fascinating it was to ponder video-phones. I always wondered… will it really be possible someday? Suddenly, not only is it possible, but it’s also easy, cheap, and “one-way.” That last factor (the “one-way-ness”) comes in really handy because sometimes we aren’t really *ready* to be seen. (Maybe we’d feel the need to “spruce up” a bit if we had to be seen right then, you know?) Well today’s video-mail options can make it incredibly easy to do brief one-way “touches” via video-mail. The shocker is how *cheap* they are. (*Free*… or $25/year, for example.) The best deal I’ve seen is EyeJot at:

http://www.eyejot.com

This is a plain case of one beggar telling another where to buy bread. None of those “affiliate fees” going on. I’m just telling you… if you stop by eyejot, pick up a Logitech 9000 webcam next time you’re in the city… You won’t regret it. (That Logitech 9000 is the *best* option; everything else is yesterday’s news.) The really cool part about Eyejot is that your recipients don’t have to “register” or “install” anything. There are no weird security warnings that show up in our browsers and no risky executables we have to download. What’s more, you can set up a “profile” video then feature that profile video on your blog or prayer request website. Change the “profile” video once a week and suddenly you have a weekly podmail that is video-powered and it’s as easy as falling off a log. What used to be a big deal is suddenly fast and effective.

But why, you might ask, video-email better than regular email? I’ve come to believe there are at least three reasons:
*** People *see* your non-verbals in video updates. Otherwise, they’re just plan lost.
*** Your message is *real* in these video updates. They hear it in your voice.
*** Finally, they know it came from *you*. It’s the ultimate way to identify that this email isn’t from some spammer. And when you *say* the other person’s name on video email, suddenly they know you took *time* to communicate with them personally, rather than simply copying and pasting the same email to 1000 others. And I’m telling you… it gets noticed. And Eyejot is video-mail made easy. If you enjoy it like I am, just remember you heard about it on Brigada.

Now if we can just deal with the fact that people will know it when we haven’t changed our shirt in a week. :-)