How Far Will Apple Take iChat?

It’s that time of year again when Mac users all squirm in anticipation of what might be unveiled. If you believe the rumors, soon Apple will have a camera built into every one of its computers and displays (with the exception of the Mac Mini and PowerMac). And that goes hand in hand with the rumors of an increase in focus on iChat. So, what can we expect from Apple’s little video conference tool and why should we care?

The Most Likely Upgrades
Before Steve Jobs leaves the stage I expect to hear about some upgrades to both iChat and the iSight camera. So, what can we expect? Well, first off it is only a matter of time before all of Apple’s displays have a camera built into them. I would expect that upgrade to be announced Monday. Also, I think it is a safe bet to assume that iChat will get a bit more polish and refinement. Look for the number of people you can invite to a conference to double as well. And, of course, performance gains are practically a given.

The Upgrades We Have A Slim Chance of Seeing
Using iChat to call standard phones and/or Skype users would be very nice. Maybe tight integration with Automator to act as a digital secretary will appear. Thus giving you the ability to set your machine up to answer calls with custom messages, screen calls and then send them to voice mail. Or perhaps allowing users to automatically dial a lists of contacts and leave them a prerecorded message? Useful? Maybe. Cool? Definitely! Of course at this stage all I can base this speculation on is several interesting rumors that seem to pop up now and again.

The Upgrades We Certainly Wont’ See, But We Can Dream About
And now, at long last, we get to the pinnacle of hype, the iPhone. It won’t happen. I know it won’t, you know it won’t, but still, everyone hopes against all odds that Steve Jobs will pull this out of his hat when he utters the magic phrase “one more thing . . .” It will be all white, and easy to use, and have a camera, and have easy to set ringtones, and will have a battery that lasts 90 days, and it will only weigh 3 grams, and it will render the user invisible and will protect against scurvy and tax audits and and and, well, you get the point. There is more wishful thinking than phone at this point, but maybe one day.

So why should your average user care about iChat? Well, simply put, with iChat Apple is trying to move users away from traditional means of communication and towards Apple’s world of easy-to-use (proprietary) communication. Maybe Apple will one day release an iPhone that has a built in iSight camera that allows users to see and hear the person they are calling. If that ever came to pass I can only assume that it would be a version of iChat running everything. I can only conclude that this is yet another attempt by Apple to push into the coming digital home. Though iChat might be a sideways push it is a push none the less.