New York Times video-calling feature focuses on grandparents

The New York Times this week gave a big boost to the uptake of video-calling in a feature entitled - "Grandma's on the computer screeen". There are so many touching passages in Amy Harmon's article that I could quote at length here but it's best to read the webpage in full. Here were the highlights for me -

“We would be strangers to them if we didn’t have the Web cam,” said Susan Pierce, 61, of Shreveport, La., who will be a virtual attendee at Thanksgiving dinner with her grandchildren in Jersey City this year.

Over the last year, Ms. Pierce and her husband watched Dylan, 17 months, learn to walk and talk over the Web cam, and witnessed his 4-year-old sister Kelsie’s drawings of people evolve from indeterminate blobs to figures with arms and fingers and toes.

Many grandparents find that the Web cam eases the transition during in-person visits, when grandchildren may refuse to sit on their laps or may reject their hugs because they do not recognize them. As one Web cam evangelist wrote on her blog, www.nanascorner.com: “You’ll be able to pick up where you left off without those warming up to you, awkward moments.”

On Ms. Pierce’s most recent visit to New Jersey last month, for instance, Dylan called out the nickname he uses for her over the Web cam, “Buffy!” and jumped into her arms. “It melted my heart,” Ms. Pierce said.

As much as I've to explain the benefits of video-calling to people who've never exerpienced it I've never been able to say it as perfectly as that.

Make sure to watch the video embedded in the New York Times page where you can see how the Pierce family bridge a 1,400 mile geographical separation using video calling. Interesting statistics mentioned include the fact that 20 million people worldwide have made a video call in the last month, and there's been 20% growth in video calling over the last year.

Comments

[Frederic Herrera]

My daughter had never met her grand-parents and got used to them within 30 mins of first encounter at the airport. All this because of their voices heard over skype video over a two-months period.

That's the emotional power of online images and audio. And young people should help older people with family abroad to use these software.

Fred

[James Corbett]

That's a wonderful anecdote Frederic, thanks for posting. Regarding the 'emotional power of online images and audio' that's exactly the message I keep trying to get across to people who don't at first see the advantages.